Mirang Wonne plays with fire
Happy accidents lead to wonderful artistic discoveries. This is true for Mirang Wonne as she discovered the technique which is now her artistic signature. Wonne narrated the story of how she came upon the discovery of using fire to make her artworks.
She had received a commission for an art installation in a dark basement in San Francisco. In order to light up the space, she wanted to create delicate lanterns that would also be functional works of art. One of the materials that she decided to work with was a sheet of steel mesh wire. As she tried to mould the wire into shape, her hands got cut by the sharp edges, but she persisted.
Wonne went for help to a welder friend so he might help her create the lantern shapes. As he was showing Wonne how to cut the edges of the mesh with his welder’s torch, she noticed a beautiful pattern on the steel mesh. This immediately gave her an idea to use the mesh as her canvas and the torch as her sumi-e brush.
Fig 1: Between light and air. Dimensions : 40 x 80 x 1.5 in. Torched stainless steel mesh on canvas *
Many years later, Wonne has mastered the technique of using fire on a steel mesh and says that she doesn’t think of the torch as dangerous but rather as a tool, her paintbrush. With the fluidity of gesture, she is able to create intricate patterns. For this current series, she is inspired by nature and many of her works contain floral and organic motifs. Paintings are multi-layered with the back layer providing color to enhance the patterns on the front layer, making it more visible.
When you see the paintings IRL, they seem unusual and you don’t realise that the works are made using fire. Wonne masterfully uses just the right amount of heat and the pattern is revealed by the delicate mesh melting to gives birth to the pattern. As you move around the work, there is a movement that occurs between all the two interacting layers and woven shimmer of the mesh. As with most artworks, pictures do not do justice to her works.
Wonne works in her studio in San Francisco and Menlo Park, CA. She is collected by many prestigious museums.
* She is represented by the Studio Shop gallery, Burlingame and the image is courtesy of the gallery.