Embellishing Rougher Edges

Gamcheon Village, Busan, South Korea, was one of the last places of refuge during the Korean war. It is a village that has little planned structure aside from the fact that it is on the hillside of Gamcheong-Dong. Fleeing from the Korean War, refugees built makeshift homes creating a patchwork haven on the edge of Busan. In 2009, Busan City Government began to develop the area into an artistic centre and tourist phenomenon where “life, arts, and culture co-exist”. They used colour and art installations to mask the age of the buildings and create a tourist hotspot popular on social media for its multitude of photo spots.

My project centres around the masking and embellishment of rougher edges, specifically looking at this through the lens of a tourist in Japan and South Korea. It draws from photography taken on a month-long trip in 2024.

One of the main sources of visual inspiration was Gamcheon Village. I explored irregular grid-like structures and bright colours popping off dark or faded backgrounds. Using rustic, heavy, linens as the base fabric allowed me to build the idea of embellishment with the fabric as the rougher aspect. When stitching I used the idea of ‘unplannedness’ to create flowing lines and random pattern on the structured backdrops.

Many different methods were explored in order to create the collection. As well as hand screen print, digital print was used to create textured backgrounds based on paper collage that created an aged look. Embroidering on these created contrast against the faded backgrounds and allowed the colours to stand out. Additionally, to explore the literal and metaphorical patching together of a place and community, I created various patchwork pieces that explore the structure and composition of Gamcheon Village.

While the larger and embroidered pieces can be seen as stand alone pieces of textile art. I designed my collection to be applied to structured garments like modern hanboks, waistcoats, and corsets.

Photography

Sketchbook

Samples

Visualisations