Steel Corsage: Bongsang Cho

Bongsang Cho
Steel Corsage

Specialty: Jewelry, utilizing modern technology to surpass previous restrictions

Most Recent Craft Show: Smithsonian Craft Show 2012

Upcoming Craft Show: American Craft Exposition 2012


Bongsang Cho came to the United States from Seoul, South Korea, and brought with him a dedicated enthusiasm for metalsmithing, and an ethereal sense of grace and impermanency which gives a delicacy to his metalwork. He graduated from Hanyang University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metals and Jewelry, and has recently graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a MFA, where he utilized several modern pieces of machinery in the college's jewelry department, such as the laser welder, to break new ground.

Cho's aesthetic is derived from the mysterious connections he senses between the organic, the artificial, and humanity. The flower is for him a metaphor which represents the essential nature of life, and extends beyond flora to embodying human existence, its connections and its transitoriness. The roots of the flowering plant are the same as the hidden relationships which support each individual life. It is for this reason that, abstractly and in literal interpretation, Cho uses the form of the flower in much of his jewelry and sculpture.

Night Blossom Brooch, of steel, sterling silver,
enamel, 24 karat keum boo, laser welding and
enameling, 7.5" x 3.5" x 2.5", Winter 2011

From the mammoth to the miniature, one can find this theme expressed, whether abstractly or literally, in his forms. A large copper sculpture of a flower, with spoon-like elements clustered together in the center for the plant's stamen, is like a prehistoric precursor to his delicate flower brooches of steel and silver, down to the hammered indentations on the protruding, arcing petals. The relation between the two is palpable, but for scale.  And yet Cho has many ways of exploring the flower form, which branch out themselves like pan-dimensional petals.

Tools, Enthusiasm, and Life #3, of copper,
enamel and 23 karat gold leaf, forging and
enameling, 48" x 16" x 12", Summer 2011

Stellar Brooch series, of copper and enamel, laser welding and enameling,
4" x 2.25" x 1.5", Spring 2012

For example, his more recent enameled and laser-welded Stellar Brooch series represent his underlying motif in abstract form. The highly geometric shapes of these brooches render them seemingly inorganic, but with splashes of color, and bearing out the vague outline of the form, Cho suggests the organic in the inorganic abstract. The folds of the piece become the petals of a Cubist flower. Cho is quite proud of this series, in part because the laser-welding process allowed him to bypass a previous restriction of enameling, that it can't be traditionally soldered after completion. Technology allows him to bypass this barrier to new artistic effect, and that is part of his pleasure in this series. The Night Blossom Brooch also exhibits use of the laser welder, Cho's favorite tool. The little sterling silver balls that dot the piece were attached using the machine.

Another brooch piece is literally a flower; the front stage actor which casts an elongated shadow across the backdrop, forming a waving crowd of hands. The flower represents a person or a life in many of Cho's pieces. Here, the flower takes the place of a human singer, actor or other performer, but also might represent many people, as the panoply of cast shadows imply. The feeling of a stage set and the evocative jubilance of people in the background conjure up the feeling of a rock concert that makes the Silhouette Brooch series exciting and emotive.

Silhouette Brooch series, of steel, aluminum, copper and pigment, laser
welding and enameling, 3.5" x 2.5" x 1", Fall 2011

Wild Life Brooch series, of copper and enamel, laser welding and
enameling, 3" x 2.5" x 1", 2" x 1.5" x 1", Spring 2012

Bongsang was born near Seoul, and thus grew up with the expansive urban environment of that city. From this, a more intimate association with construction must have led to his urban flower, composed of hard hats on enameled wire spirals, the black suggesting unpainted metal or industrial corrosion. The hard hats are the lives of the workers, who bloom from their own soil of a sorts, the asphalt and concrete of the city. The Wild Life Brooch series seems to suggest an admiration of this occupation by the artist, to typify it so as a flower. That which is deemed ordinary is also everpresent and essential to the tapestry of the living environment in which it resides.

Bongsang came to the United States after a meeting with Professor Komelia Okim in Korea. After attending a lecture by Okim, and having a conversation about American life, Cho traveled to the United States. He has been an assistant to veteran jeweler Namu Cho. He has now applied and been accepted to several craft shows, and will be attending more at the end of this year.

His work can be seen at www.bongsangcho.com.

Winter Night Brooch series, of fine silver and copper, laser

welding, 4.5" x 1.5" x 1", Spring 2012