Mirang Wonne has a bold and unusual flair for color and texture, present in both her paintings, tapestries and sculptural works. Using sheet copper and wire mesh, she creates rumpled metal tapestries and hangings rich with a corrosion-like patina. Her sculptures include installations works as well as metal screens. She also creates paper box sculptures that are colored and textured with brilliant and contrasting hues.

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Art enthralled her from an early age. "When all the other kids were doing origami, I found a crayon and started to draw," she said. Her hobby grew into a passion and then became her career.

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Her fascination with rocks is apparent in most of her work. The rocks possess a sort of heightened reality and are "products of her mind, not from pictures or places," explains Wonne. Known for their commonness and inertia, rocks can easily function as abstractions. In her work, they are focal points for meditation.

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In contrast to the one doing the meditation, they make one aware of their own essential nature. In her work, rocks become varied and vibrant; her forests of stones have a determinedly rhythmic flow.

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Mirang Wonne grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She earned both a B.A. and an M.F.A in painting from the Seoul National University in Korea, and later earned a Rh.D in aesthetics from the University of Paris I. She has won numerous awards throughout her career, including Best New Artist by the Ministry of Culture in Korea.

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Bryant Street Gallery presents an exhibition of new work by Mirang Wonne on display throughout October. The show opens with a reception on Thursday, October 11, from 6-8 p.m.

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BRYANT STREET GALLERY 520 Bryant Street Palo Alto, CA 94301 650-321-8155, fax 650-321-8154