PUBLIC ART & INSTALLATION
Contained Radiance — Vault Gallery Public Art Activation
Vault Gallery, Postmark Center for the Arts, Auburn, Washington2025
January 15 – April 10, 2026
Materials: Acrylic, mixed media, polyurethane, hanji (Korean mulberry paper)
Type: Temporary installation / gallery activation
Project Description
Contained Radiance expanded Kelly Haejung Paik’s painting practice into a spatial installation centered on the vessel as both physical form and symbolic container. Developed in response to the intimate architecture of the Vault Gallery, the installation treated the space itself as a container—holding color, form, and memory within a concentrated environm
At the center of the installation stood a sculptural moon jar constructed from polyurethane and woven strips of tinted hanji using a bojagi-inspired process. Surrounding paintings repeated the same vessel form while shifting color and atmosphere, allowing color to carry meaning through variation rather than through changes in form. The dialogue between two-dimensional paintings and the three-dimensional vessel created a visual exchange between containment and expansion, stillness and movement.
This project marked an important transition toward installation-based work, extending the artist’s ongoing exploration of Korean vessel traditions into a more spatial and materially engaged direction.
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Exhibition & Press
Presented as part of Contained Radiance, Vault Gallery, Auburn, WA, 2025.
For exhibition documentation and press coverage, please see the Exhibitions and Press sections.
Luminata 2025: Festival of Light — Greenlake, Seattle, WA
September 20, 2025
Luminous Offering (Korean Moon Jar)
Steel rods, four-way stretch fabric, vellum origami, battery-operated LED lights
7 ft. (3 ft. spherical base with 4 ft. upward extension)
Installed along the lantern-lit procession at Green Lake, this illuminated moon jar became a gathering point for thousands of festival-goers. More than 300 folded vellum origami units refracted the internal LEDs into shifting, organic patterns. Its upward extension suggested both light rising to the sky and radiance returning to the vessel, embodying the cyclical energy of offering and receiving in public ritual space.
OFFERING: SEVEN TRADITIONAL KOREAN VESSELS
Public Art Commissioned by Bethany Presbyterian Church, Seattle
July 1 – November 30, 2025
1818 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA
Seven paintings inspired by traditional Korean ceramic vessels are installed in the sanctuary windows of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle.
Each piece reflects the quiet presence and enduring beauty of Korean forms, reimagined through layers of botanical imagery and light. Together, they create a meditative space for reflection, memory, and transformation. Each painting measures 40 x 30 x 2.5 inches.
BEYOND BOUNDARIESA: SURREAL VISIONS
Public Art Installation at Seattle Restored
Mixed Pantry, 2233 1st Ave, Seattle, WA
July 11, 2025 – January 15, 2026
This public art installation, Beyond Boundaries: Surreal Visions, is part of the Seattle Restored exhibition activation and is now on view at Mixed Pantry in Belltown.
The installation features a series of surrealist paintings shaped by memory, perception, and the tension between stillness and transformation. The works reflect an ongoing exploration of ambiguous spaces—where time feels suspended and internal experience alters the visible world.