Jay Sae Jung Oh

b. 1982

Born in Seoul, Korea, 1982; Lives and works in Seattle, Washington

Unlike fine art, design comes with more responsibility to provide better solutions. Most of my design inspirations are derived from the awareness of social issues like sustainability and abundant waste. Our disposable culture makes me interested in objects that people waste and treat as invaluable. — Jay Sae Jung Oh

Work

Exhibitions

03.18–10.01.2023
Group Show
Chatsworth House

Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design

01.18–01.22.2023
Group Show
FOG Design + Art

FOG Design + Art

11.27–12.06.2020
Group Show
Design Miami

Design Miami/ 2020

12.03–12.08.2019
Group Show
Design Miami

Design Miami/ 2019

03.03–04.15.2017
Group Show
Salon 94 Bowery

Ghost Dog

05.03–06.09.2017
Group Show
Lever House

MIDTOWN

Biography

Jay Sae Jung Oh with new work in her Seattle home/studio. Photo by Ian Allen.

Jay Sae Jung Oh is a Seattle based designer from South Korea, who explores the intersection of art and design with unique and intricately made objects.

Jay transforms everyday objects into something new and extraordinary; assemblages that are at once art and craft. Oh’s ongoing Savage series is composed of seemingly jerry-rigged structures made of household objects, which are intricately hand wrapped in raw leather. The manufactured plastic objects that lie beneath, are transformed and unified into a sculptural design object, making a strong statement about the cultural condition of abundance and obsolescence.

Jay has worked along prolific designers, and has served as a visiting professor at The University of Illinois at Chicago in Industrial Design. Jay’s work has been widely exhibited and featured in publications worldwide, her works are in the permanent collections at SFMOMA, the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and Cranbrook Art Museum.

CV

Press

11.03.2023
From Trash to Ornament: Architects and Designers Give New Life to Discarded Objects
Carla Bonilla Huaroc

Arch Daily

10.03.2023
Jay Sae Jung Oh creates chair with discarded instruments wrapped in leather
Ellen Eberhardt

Dezeen

03.29.2023
Salvage Chair by Jay Sae Jung Oh repurposes plastic, leather, and plywood into a royal throne
Matthew Burgos

Designboom

10.10.2021
Gender Agenda: Celebrating the Power of Female Designers
Madeleine Morley

Elephant

07.29.2020
House Calls: Jay Sae Jung Oh
Unknown

Phillips

06.18.2020
South Korean Designer Jay Sae Jung Oh Crafts Beauty From Discarded Objects
Hannah Martin

Architectural Digest

11.25.2014
How Jay Sae Jung Oh Gives Lowly Materials High Concept Treatment
Artsy Editors

Artsy

07.30.2012
Savage Chair Made With Discarded Plastic Objects by Jae Sae Jung Oh
Andrea Chin

designboom