Sculpting Calm in a Chaotic World

By Will Simpson
Hidden Gem Reporter

MOSCOW, Idaho — Jill Kyong transforms the chaos of nature into meaningful connections. She takes little cracks in the pavement, snippets of landscape, and burnt tree snags she stumbles upon and transforms them into colorful, vibrant, precise geometric artworks.

In a time of political and cultural chaos, Jill Kyong, a wood sculptor and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) candidate at the University of Idaho, finds calm amid turmoil and explores feelings of separation and connection. Her work translates a topsy-turvy world into soothing geometric sculptures of overlapping three-dimensional panels, bright with color.

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Her journey started in the 80s in a rural farming community high school in Minnesota. Funding was available for all things agricultural. “We had a huge welding shop, a large wood shop, but no art classes,” said Kyong.

She studied metal casting under nationally renowned foundry artist Wayne Potratz. Getting her undergraduate degree in art from the University of Minnesota in 1997.

Marriage and family hampered Kyong’s artistic journey for two decades as she raised her two kids and worked from home. They moved a couple blocks away from the Arkansas Arts Center and its woodshop in Little Rock, which sparked her passion and set her on the path to becoming a talented wood sculptor.

When her children were old enough to fend for themselves, Kyong decided to return to her passion for art in 2017.

Kyong is getting her MFA in the spring of 2025 from the University of Idaho in Moscow. In addition to prepping for her MFA thesis show, she’s teaching wood sculpture classes at the university.

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Kyong and her husband, Jeff McClain, love to hike, each with a different motive. McClain loves the exercise and the fresh air coming from being in nature, and Kyong draws inspiration from nature, making frequent stops to study and photograph small scenes.

McClain describes her as a “slow hiker” because she’s constantly stopping to observe and photograph the intricacies of nature. Her artistic eye finds beauty in unexpected places, like cracks in rocks, the way light filters through trees, or patterns in a landscape.

“I might look back, and she’s like looking down into some tree stump,” said McClain.

She doesn’t just take one or two pictures but studies a fragment of the scene, a moss-filled crack in a rock, and photographs it from multiple angles and distances. This turns any seemingly short hike into an all-day affair.

“She needs about 30 pictures of that one thing,” he said with a chuckle.

This attention to detail and appreciation for the subtleties of nature contrast with McClain’s desire for efficiency and forward momentum. This difference, while sometimes frustrating for McClain, is also a testament to Kyong’s artistic vision.

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“I’m often taking moments based on chaos and stuff I find disturbing in society, trying to find the beauty in it, trying to find the calm that we can all agree on, and offering hope in that situation,” said Kyong.

Her pieces often convey subtle messages inviting contemplation without being overtly explicit.

Growth, a 30-inch square wall sculpture, “originated from a photo taken of grass growing through a thin crack in the pavement along a road,” according to Kyong’s website. This inspired her to create a piece connecting this small natural scene with the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd’s death. Growth features a gray box with five smaller green boxes containing black-and-white stones. The central box holds both a black and white stone, symbolizing racial reconciliation. Kyong’s art resonates with viewers on a personal level, even if they’re unaware of the underlying message.

Between is a wall sculpture also 30 inches square and “about the spaces between mountains, the spaces between trees, and the space between humans.” according to Kyong’s website. She drew inspiration from the trailside burnt snags on a warm sunny day in Montana’s Glacier National Park. This piece comprises two pale white panels, one curved, and three black “trees” graphically spanning the panels and carved wooden stones nestled up against their base.

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She strives to show a sense of calm in her work by trying different arrangements to see what moves her. It’s done mathematically with geometric precision, so all the pieces have a relationship to each other. The elements are related in a way so there aren’t areas of tension in the piece.

“Many people tell me that they sense a feeling of calm and peace in the work,” said Kyong.

It’s the small, seemingly insignificant moments when she’s staring into a crack in a sidewalk, pondering a graphic landscape, or hiking a high mountain trail that Kyong finds her inspiration.

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References

• Kyong, J. (2024, November 5). Personal communication [Personal interview].
• McClain, J. (2024, November 11). Personal communication [Personal interview].
• Vieth, E. (2024, November 7). Little Pink House Gallery, Personal communication [Personal interview].
• Krumpe, E. (2024, November 13). Personal communication [Personal interview].

Online

• JILL KYONG, https://jillkyong.com/