Jiseon Lee Isbara on Tradition and Rediscovery

The cool crispness of cotton. The scratchy density of felted wool. The silken weightlessness of organza.

As a fiber artist, when I graze my hand across a bolt of fabric I hold potential—What forms can I shape this into?—even though most of the techniques I use are ancient. Even basic. But that’s the case for so many School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) artists working today. They find success, working in many emerging fields replete with new technologies, because of their grounding in basic artforms.

This issue of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago magazine celebrates a “back to basics” approach among SAIC’s practitioners, demonstrating how powerful old forms can be for current practices. Inside, you’ll take a look at timeless crafts, like knitting; traditional ways of working, like plein air painting; and preservationist techniques, like restoration design. Profiles of alums Norman Teague (MFA 2016) and Keiko Kira (MFA 1995) explain how old-school practices live on in their contemporary work as designers. This issue even explores how SAIC artists have founded collaborative collectives to gain a little respite from the modern world. What’s so fascinating, however, is that all these old ways of working aren’t about a regressive way of being.

At SAIC, we say that no field is beyond rediscovery. I know from my work in the studio that traditional practices—like tying, weaving, and sewing—are basic in the most profound sense of the word. Passed down over generations and replicated across cultures, these basic forms are not rudimentary, but fundamental. Theories of color and design learned by painting. The ability to sketch out an idea for a designed object. Finding aesthetic solutions to conceptual problems when building a body of work. These basic building blocks teach widely applicable skills with which SAIC alums go on to success in many fields: art and design, filmmaking and communications, hospitality and entrepreneurship, and many more. For SAIC artists, going back to basics is just another path to creation.

Jiseon Lee Isbara
President ■