Steph Rue

Instagram: @sjrue

Website: http://stephrue.com

Bio: Steph Rue is an artist and papermaker based in Sacramento, CA, where she maintains a hanji (Korean papermaking) studio. Steph creates artwork and conducts research, workshops, and community building events around papermaking, fiber arts, and cultural heritage. Her creative practice is rooted in an ongoing exploration of Korean traditional paper and fiber arts and influenced by her religious upbringing and Korean diasporic identity. Steph is a co-founder of the Korean American Artist Collective and a co-founder of Hanji Edition, a publisher of limited edition art/prints on hanji. She serves as the board chair of Hand Papermaking, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art of hand papermaking through print and online publications.

Statement: My father speaks in incoherent run-on sentences, a litany of non sequiturs. Last summer the stroke left him unable to read, write, or comprehend people's words. Listening to him reminds me of how I feel trying to communicate with Korean elders or sitting in Korean church. There is next to no comprehension, only exaggerated gestures and occasional moments of recognition. A few months ago I had to forge my dad's signature on a document. I practiced writing his name over and over. The letters took on a life of their own. I traced their forms on scraps of paper I made last summer. I stitched the pieces together and quilted them into a blanket, like the one my dad uses at the residential care home. The letters like the scrabble tiles we try to use with my dad to help restore his language. He refuses again and again, but we keep trying.