Born in Daejeon, Korea and the recipient of an MFA in Sculpture from Ewha Women’s University in 1996, sculptor Cha Jong Rye (b. 1968) meticulously crafts works which have been featured in exhibits and collections worldwide. Among her solo exhibitions are shows at the Sungkok Art Museum (Seoul, 2011), the Nampo Art Museum (Goheung, 2012), Red Sea Gallery (Singapore, 2015), Bauzium Sculpture Museum (Gosung, Gangwon-do, 2017), and The Center for Art in Wood (Philadelphia, 2018). Selected group exhibitions include the Berkshire Museum (2015), the Nampo Art Museum (2014), and the Kim Chong Yung Museum (Seoul, 2017), among many others.

Using wood as her chosen medium, Jong Rye constructs seamlessly intricate wooden landscapes through her often wall-mounted sculptures. Sanding and layering hundreds of delicate wood boards, her process is intentionally unintentional; rather than executing a predetermined design, she allows herself to discover images in the fluidity of arranging and rearranging the uniquely hand-shaped blocks. The result is a richly textured three-dimensional canvas upon which light and shadow dance, transforming the once-recognizable wood material into entirely abstracted landscapes reminiscent of wrinkled linen or rippling water.

Equally important to her own subjectivity in the creative process is the subjectivity of her audience--the freedom of the viewer to interpret her work from a unique perspective. Jong Rye considers her work to rely on the interaction and communication between viewers and herself, and feels that a sculpture is most complete when a viewer interprets it in a way that is unique from her own understanding.

Cha Jong Rye currently works and resides just outside of Seoul, South Korea.