RECOLLECTIONS, Soomin Ham's Solo Exhibit: Washington Post Art Review by Mark Jenkins

Soomin Ham's “Wonder,” part of her show “Recollections” at Multiple Exposures Gallery. (Soomin Ham )

March 2, 2024 BY MARK JENKINS

Soomin Ham

It’s not hard to remember numerous recent gallery shows about memory, an increasingly common theme of local artists. But few of them conjured visions of the bygone more inventively than D.C. photographer Soomin Ham, who mixes techniques for both visual and conceptual effect. Ham’s Multiple Exposures Gallery show, “Recollections,” ranges widely in style yet is cohesive emotionally.

Ham, originally from Seoul, sometimes rephotographs existing pictures, or layers soft-focus images through superimposition or by covering them with additional material. One set of three photographs commemorates the loss of her mother, a motif in Ham’s work, by picturing such things as the fabric wrapped about the woman’s ashes and a highway sign for a South Korean cemetery. The photos are in color, which is relatively rare in Ham’s work, but coated with whitish wax to suggest remembrances both psychically and literally out of reach.

Ham often assembles images in doubles or triples. A diptych, “Light for the Fallen,” is split between a black field punctuated by white specks and rows of gravestones rendered in grays so light that they almost vanish into the white background. A single picture fuses three levels: A woman holds a leaf over her face in a rectangular photo that overlaps a horizontal picture of a forest of bare-branched trees. Human and nature almost merge, and yet keep their distance, much like the reveries Ham deftly evokes.

Soomin Ham: Recollections Through March 10 at Multiple Exposures Gallery, Torpedo Factory, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. multipleexposuresgallery.com. 703-683-2205.

Washington City Paper Art Review of Soomin Ham's "RECOLLECTIONS" by Louis Jacobson

Soomin Ham’s “Song of the Butterfly”

Bratty and Soomin Ham’s Photos: City Lights for Feb. 29–March 7

In her photography, Soomin Ham returns often to deeply personal imagery. In Recollections, her most recent solo exhibition at Multiple Exposures Gallery, Ham does so again, including repurposing works from a previous exhibit, Sound of Butterfly, in which she photographed her late mother’s possessions using stunningly creative techniques such as encasing the images in ice or leaving them out to be covered by falling snow. Recollections doesn’t have the same intense focus on grief; it’s more about her journey through “fragments and layers that shape a landscape of dreams, losses, and memories.” A major recurring theme in her current show is the contrast between light and dark; “Lights for the Fallen” pairs a washed-out portrayal of tombstones with an inky sky filled with twinkling stars, while the vertical diptych “East” and “West” twins portrayals of upside-down and right-side-up branches. Ham includes five images from her “Windows” series, notably a soft-toned stack of clouds hovering over a thin strip of land and a peaceful, pictorialist depiction of a family of ducks on the surface of a lake. Ham’s most enigmatic image may be “Once Upon a Time,” in which a series of footprint-like impressions recedes into the distance in the sand—or are they actually ascending into the sky? With Ham at her moodiest, it’s hard to be sure. Recollections runs through March 10 at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria. Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. multipleexposuresgallery.com. Free. —Louis Jacobson

RECOLLECTIONS: a New Solo Exhibition

Wonder, Window series by Soomin Ham

RECOLLECTIONS, the new solo exhibition will be presented in the Multiple Exposures Gallery, VA. The show explores the landscape of memories, loss, and dreams through photography. Ham delves into moments and places that have defined her life and uses photographic imagery to reflect on their meaning. Ham’s photo essay goes beyond her self-discovery—her work invites viewers to contemplate the fragments and layers that have shaped their own stories too. (Read a full statement here)

An opening reception will be held on Sunday, February 11, 2024, from 2pm-4pm.

Exhibition days: January 30 - March 10, 2024
Exhibition hours: 11am-5pm daily
Location: Multiple Exposures Gallery | Torpedo Factory Art Center | #312

Shadow and Light Magazine: Showcase Portfolio: Discovery

Frozen Moments, one of the series of Sound of Butterfly, was featured in Showcase Portfolio, Shadow and Light Magazine. Please read more about the Interview with E.E. McCollum.

Washington Post Art Critic Review of “Lingering Glimpses” by Mark Jenkins

An installation view of Soomin Ham's "Lingering Glimpses" of American servicemen and -women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, grouped in a somber memorial.

Ham’s "Lingering Glimpses #4." The artist prints photos with expired developer and no fixer, so the pictures turn almost entirely black

Soomin Ham

Local photographer Soomin Ham doesn’t offer permanence. Often addressing her own family history, Ham devises images that are damaged or incomplete, thus suggesting absence and bereavement. Click here to read more.

Washington City Paper art critic review of “Lingering Glimpses”

by LOUIS JACOBSON November 10th, 2021

Soomin Ham’s Lingering Glimpses at Multiple Exposures Gallery Credit: Courtesy of Soomin Ham

City Lights: Lingering Glimpses Remembers Fallen Soldiers

Soomin Ham combines the haziness of memory with eccentric photographic techniques to capture the anonymity of life.

Soomin Ham’s oeuvre has been driven by a fascination with the haziness of remembering, a fondness for eccentric photographic techniques, and, especially, the intersection of the two. In earlier projects, Ham sifted through her late mother’s possessions and photographed them; she then froze those images in a layer of ice and rephotographed them. Click here to read more.

Lingering Glimpses, Soomin Ham's new photography show

b&w silver gelatin print and pencil, 11 x 14 inches each

Installation view

Multiple Exposures Gallery presents Lingering Glimpses, a solo exhibition by Soomin Ham. The show will be on view from October 20 to November 28, 2021.

About the Work:

“Lingering Glimpses” is an ongoing project commemorating American soldiers who passed away in Iraq and Afghanistan. This project began with an online search for images of young men and women who were lost to the great sadness of these wars. Traditional darkroom methods were used to create black and white silver gelatin prints. Reflecting the loss of lives cut short, the film was processed using an expired developer and no fixer. This method results in photographs with unpredictable lives of their own as the images slowly fade and pass away.

Exhibition Dates: October 20 to November 28, 2021
Opening Reception: Sunday, October 24, 2 - 4pm
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 11 am - 5 pm

Black + white photography magazine features Soomin Ham's living memory

Past and present meld in Soomin Ham’s recontextualised photographs, in which the multimedia artist infuses her grandfather’s long-lost photos with her own unique vision. Donatella Montrone reports. To read more about the article, click here.

UNBOUND 10! ANNUAL JURIED + INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION JULY 2ND – AUGUST 7TH, 2021

I am honored to participate in UnBound10!, the tenth annual juried and invitational exhibition. My works, “Scent in the Wind” and “Schoolboy”, were invited to the show.

Candela Gallery announces UnBound10!, the tenth annual juried and invitational exhibition. UnBound! is typically the only open call the gallery holds each year and is dedicated to featuring a wide range of photographic artworks. This years’ TENTH edition includes 60 artists/collectives, features 62 fine art photographs/objects, and 11 artist books. The mission of UnBound! is to generate opportunities and exposure beyond the traditional group or juried show by providing a collection opportunity for artists.

EXHIBITION CATALOG: UnBound10!

2021 Limited Edition Catalog
UnBound10! Juried +Invitational Group Show
Edition of 200, individually numbered
Published by Candela Books.

As the gallery concludes its tenth season, Candela Books publishes limited-edition catalogs for this year’s UnBound10! Exhibition.

SOOMIN HAM: PORTRAITS, WINDOWS, ONCE UPON A TIME By Daniel George - LensCratch

Projects featured this week were selected from our most recent call-for-submissions. I was able to interview each of these individuals to gain further insight into the bodies of work they shared. Today, we are looking at Portraits, Windows, and Once upon a time by Soomin Ham.

Soomin Ham is a photographer and multimedia artist based in Washington D.C. area. Ham received a Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Instrument from Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea and her Master of Art in Photography and Multimedia from New York University/International Center of Photography in New York City. Read more.

Scent in the Wind, Portraits Series by Soomin Ham

RECOLLECTION: REINTERPRETING TRADITION AND HERITAGE AT THE KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER IN DC

The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. proudly presents Recollection: Reinterpreting Tradition and Heritage, a group exhibition of painting, photography, and sculpture works by five Korean artists who radically reinterpret a variety of classic forms into the visual language of contemporary art. Through vastly different artistic approaches, materials, and subject matter, Jaehyug Choi, Soomin Ham, Hyeon Suk Her, Doo Yeon Jung, and Yoohyun Kim each grapple in personal terms with the apparent contradiction of a modern Korean society still deeply rooted in its cultural history. Whether those bonds to the past are merely added weight or a strengthening foundation is up to each artist to decide.

in the galleries: With two group exhibits, maximum exposure for photographers - Washington post

Mark Jenkins, Washington Post Art critic, reviews two exhibitions featuring work by Soomin Ham … Most of the contributors rely on serendipity, but the selections include a few more deliberate images. Java-born Iwan Bagus embodies his heritage by posing in an inherited antique sarong, surrounded by balloons emblazoned with copies of his late mother’s final CT scan. Korea-bred Soomin Ham turns old family snapshots into layered collages, whether colorful and abstract (at Studio) or spare and lyrical (at Multiple Exposures). The former derive from flawed negatives exposed during her childhood; the latter from her grandfather’s pristine black-and-white pictures from the 1930s. more

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Lost/Found: Explorations in Photographic Time and Space - Washington City paper Critics' pick

Lost/Found, a photography group show, was featured in Washington City Paper’s art critics’ pick by Louis Jacobson.

Studio Gallery’s annual photography exhibition doesn’t reach the heights of last year’s unusually fruitful effort, but the exhibit’s dozen artists collectively offer an impressive range of styles. Steven Marks produces lush, dream-like color images; Gary Anthes uses crisp black-and-white to document forlorn corners of Navajo country; Iwan Bagus contributes a deeply personal meditation on his late mother that features a brain scan and sarongs; and Shaun Schroth assembles still lifes using bits of natural detritus, including mesmerizing wisps of milkweed. Of special note are works by Soomin Ham, who creatively repurposes old, damaged film into mixed media collages, and Rania Razek, who chronicles broad sweeps in lonely places, from a backwoods road to a supple sand dune. But the finest contribution may be Matt Francisco’s understated, elegiac photographs that depict window blinds whose hues channel the ambient light of different times of day.

Source

Lost/Found: Explorations in Photographic Time and Space in Studio Gallery’s annual photography exhibition

15 DC-based photographers investigate the nature of Lost/Found. Using a variety of different photographic genres, including fine art, social documentary, photojournalism, and mixed media, the artists picture their personal perceptions of rootedness and alienation, presence and absence, and remembrance and the forgotten.

The show follows the Gallery’s well-received 2018 exhibit Narrative, which the City Paper selected as one of the 5 best photography exhibits of the year. Many of the same artists, along with the curatorial team, will be featured in Lost/Found.

Photographers represented include: Gary Anthes, Iwan Bagus, Matt Francisco, Soomin Ham, Leena Jayaswal, Jeremy Limerick, Kim Llerena and Nancy Daly, Steven Marks, Kadeem Morris, Chris Prosser, Rania Razek, Shaun Schroth, Alexandra Silverthorne, and Fred Zafran.

The show is curated by Leena Jayaswal, photography professor at American University, Iwan Bagus, a photography professor at the University of the District of Columbia, and Steven Marks, Studio Gallery.

Artist Reception: First Friday, Nov 1, 2019, 6-8 PM., and Saturday, Nov 9, 2019, 4-6 PM

Exhibit Dates: Oct 30, 2019 – Nov 23, 2019

Source

VMFA: Futures showcasing a select group of artists joining the 2019-2020 Fellowship Program at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, VA

Workhouse Arts Center is pleased to present VMFA: Futures showcasing a select group of artists joining the 2019-2020 Fellowship Program at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia. This lucid presentation is comprised of a broad selection of humanizing works of ingenuity which liven the art landscape through sculpture, painting, print making, photography and mixed media.

VMFA: Futures highlights emerging talent but also explores commonalities amongst the artists’ work each sharing visual, woven poems referencing subjects such as the acceleration of environmental destruction, the grasp of fading moments, the provocation of word play, the resonance of family belongings and the ritual of preservation. Exploring forms of personal documentation, this exhibition examines the artists’ response and dealings with traces of past and present and interacting perspectives.    

Featured artists include Rebecca Silberman, David Franusich, Soomin Ham and Sarah Phillips.

VMFA: Futures
On View August 7 – October 6, 2019
McGuireWoods Gallery, Workhouse Arts Center
Reception: Saturday August 10, 6pm – 8pm

the county collects II at betty mae kramer gallery and music room

The Arts and Humanities Council is pleased to present The County Collects II, an exhibition featuring a selection of artwork from the 2018 Contemporary Works on Paper Collection acquisition.

The Contemporary Works on Paper Collection consists of more than 550 prints, drawings and watercolors by regional artists. Works acquired by the county more than 40 years ago by noted artists Kevin McDonald, Ilya Bolotowsky and Barbara Davis Kerne will be exhibited alongside newer artworks by artists such as Susan Goldman, Wendy Ross, and Sandy Sugawara.

The County Collects II will be on view at the Kramer Gallery from April 2019 - August 2019.

Artworks by:

Barbara Davis Kerne, Claudia Gibson-Hunter, Sandy Sugawara, Gretchen Schermerhorn, Wendy Ross, Kevin MacDonald, Susan Goldman, William Willis, Ilya Bolotowsky, Dorothy Cavalier-Yank, Muriel Hasbun, Soomin Ham, Llewellyn Berry

BEYOND BOUNDARIES: LENSCULTURE DISCOVERIES IN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY at Aperture Gallery, New York, NY 04.25.2019 - 05.02.2019

LensCulture is proud to present Beyond Boundaries, an expansive exhibition of its recent discoveries in contemporary photography. Curated in part by leading editors, curators, thought-leaders and artists, Beyond Boundaries is an inclusive group show that doubles as both a celebration and survey of global image making today. With 101 participating photographers hailing from over 34 countries, this exhibition becomes a visual reflection of the beating hearts and curious minds of LensCulture's vibrant community.“Portraits and Windows” second place for Portrait Awards will be featured in the exhibition. more

The LensCulture Portrait Photography Award 2019 Winners

We’re delighted to announce 39 talented photographers as the winners, jurors’ picks and finalists of the LensCulture Portrait Awards. These remarkable photographers come from 20 countries on five continents, and their work reflects a wide range of contemporary portraiture being made around the world today.

For this award, we wanted to discover and celebrate innovative approaches to portraiture alongside stunning traditional work. Our jury was amazed by the range of work submitted. From quirky self-portraits to creative portrayals of family, friends, groups and ordinary people around the world, from classic studio portraiture to environmental portraits, there is so much wonderful portraiture being made around the world today!

Be sure to take time to look through all of their work for inspiration and contemplation, surprise and delight. more

2ND PLACE SERIES

Soomin Ham

United States

Portraits and Windows

VMFA The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: Visual Arts Fellowships 2019–20

Richmond, VA––The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to announce the 2019–20 recipients of VMFA fellowships. Twenty-eight students and professional artists were selected from 753 applicants to receive a total of $167,000 towards professional advancement in the arts. Since the VMFA Fellowship Program was launched in 1940, the museum has awarded nearly $5.8 million to more than 1,350 professional artists, art students and graduate students from across Virginia. Recipients must be Virginia residents and can use the award as desired, including for education and studio investments. Each year, professional curators and working artists serve as jurors to select fellowship recipients.

Fellowship Recipients

VMFA awarded 12 professional fellowships of $8,000 each this year. Professional fellowship recipients are Mahari Chabwera, painting, Richmond; Eric Cowan, sculpture, Radford; Lily Cox-Richard, sculpture, Richmond; Soomin Ham, photography, Alexandria; Patrick Harkin, new and emerging media, Richmond; Rob McDonald, photography, Lexington; Jon McMillan, sculpture, Fredericksburg; Holly Morrison, photography, North Chesterfield; Julia Pfaff, crafts, Richmond; Russell Richards, sculpture, Charlottesville; Rebecca Silberman, photography, Gordonsville; and Sasha Waters-Freyer, film and video, Richmond. Hamza Walker, director of Laxart in Los Angeles, California, was the juror for the professional fellowship entries.

Read more at https://www.vmfa.museum/pressroom/news/vmfa-2019-20-fellowship-program-supports-28-student-professional-artists/#5Og6k8S4i7gUCQIm.99

In the galleries: In 'Narrative,' 14 artists have personal tales to tell - Washington Post

By Mark Jenkins

Every picture tells at least one story in “Narrative,” a Studio Gallery show that illustrates the many ways cameras can spin a tale. The 14 participants practice traditional documentary photography, delve into history or simply use the lens as a sort of mirror.

The self-portraits include Iwan Bagus’s large-format nude, posed ominously with an animal trap. Langley Spurlock (with L.J. Aron) depicts the back of his own head in colorful environments that appear synthetic but are actually artworks in Miami museums. The context is even more electric in Steven Marks’s photo of a moving figure in a blur of red and aqua.

Gail Rebhan’s superimposed-text pictures depict Jewish children who lived in, and fled from, Nazi Germany. Soomin Ham continues to investigate family history with multilevel pictures of a site in Korea, grounded by her grandfather’s 1930s photos. Rania Razek photographs a scarf thrown into the air twice — with very different results — to commemorate two sisters who succumbed to breast cancer.

Gary Anthes offers crisp, evocative scenes from a Navajo reservation. Kim Llerena documents everyday roadside phenomena in the American Southwest, honoring each non-landmark with a plaque. Most intriguing in form is Shaun Schroth’s view from inside a Japanese train, a two-frame composition that at first glance seems to be just one. The juxtaposition may have been serendipitous, but here it looks inevitable.

Narrative: Contemporary Photography and the Art of Storytelling Through Dec. 1 at Studio Gallery, 2108 R St. NW.