JillKyong.
Mixed Media · Layered Surfaces · Paper & PanelKyong builds surfaces through accumulation. What goes down first conditions what comes after — each layer alters the possibilities available to the next, and the finished surface holds the visible sequence of every decision in order, including the decisions to change direction.
What goes first is never gone.
Layered media work is fundamentally about sequence. Each application sits on what came before and conditions what comes after. The first layer is never truly covered — it persists as a structural fact that shapes everything above it, even when it’s optically invisible in the finished surface.
Kyong’s practice makes this logic explicit. Her surfaces hold the accumulated evidence of a working process — the decisions to add, to cover, to scrape back, to redirect. Where the blacksmith’s hammer marks are indexical (each mark records a blow), Kyong’s layers are sequential (each layer records a temporal decision, a state of the work at that moment in time).
In Material Mediations, her work provides the temporal counterpoint to McConnell’s wood (which holds spatial memory, the logic of growth) and Cristalli’s iron (which holds thermal memory, the logic of heat). Three different kinds of material intelligence, each visible in the finished work to anyone willing to look.
Each layer is permanent. The surface of the finished work records every prior state. First layers are never gone — they persist structurally, even when they’re not visible.
Five operations. The sequence is visible.
The first layer establishes the structural character of the surface. Its texture and absorbency determine how subsequent layers behave.
Repeated applications develop tone, texture, and form. Each layer is read before the next is applied. The surface is in dialogue with the artist.
Scraping, scratching, or partial covering redirects without erasing. The evidence of prior states remains visible in the altered surface.
Later layers bring disparate areas into coherence. Transitions between zones of different history are negotiated at the surface.
The final layer holds all prior decisions. The work’s history is visible to the attentive viewer — sequence made spatial.
Material Mediations — May 2, 2026
Kyong shows alongside Andy McConnell (wood & mixed media) and Maria Cristalli (forged iron) at JG Art Gallery’s First Friday Art Walk. The three practices share a preoccupation with process-visible surfaces. McConnell’s wood holds the memory of the grain; Cristalli’s iron holds the memory of heat; Kyong’s layers hold the memory of sequence. Three kinds of material knowledge, placed in direct conversation.
Opening reception: May 2, 5–8 PM. The artists will be present. 176 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island WA — 20 minutes from the ferry terminal.
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Kyong’s work for Material Mediations is available for acquisition directly through the gallery. Contact the gallery before or during the opening reception. Worldwide shipping, certificate of authenticity, and installation guidance provided.