Woven Leather Case v05
Designed by Dahyeon Yoo
South Korea, 2022
Vegetable-tanned leather, hand-woven
Measurements
11 × 9 × 6h cm
4,3 × 3,5 × 2,3h in
Provenance
Private collection
Details
Hand-woven case composed of two parts (box and lid), crafted entirely from vegetable-tanned leather strands.
About
Woven Leather Case v05 continues Dahyeon Yoo’s sustained exploration of weaving traditions through contemporary materials. By soaking and twisting vegetable-tanned leather into fine strands, Yoo achieves a delicate interlacing that transforms fragility into strength.
The compact scale of this case underscores the designer’s sensitivity to proportion and structure. Each subtle irregularity in the woven surface—wrinkles, tonal variations, and imperfections—becomes a marker of authenticity, revealing both the organic qualities of leather and the imprint of the maker’s hand.
This work embodies Yoo’s ongoing meditation on harmony, resilience, and balance, echoing traditional Korean craft while asserting a distinctly contemporary presence.
Harmony Series
The Harmony Series reinterprets traditional Korean straw weaving and plaiting techniques from the Joseon Dynasty using vegetable-tanned leather. By soaking and twisting the leather into fine strands and delicately hand-weaving them, the artist creates sculptural forms that explore a rich contrast between roughness and smoothness, simplicity and complexity. Each work in the series consists of an intricately woven base and lid, whose texture carries a sense of timeless craftsmanship. Though each leather strand is fragile on its own, the woven structure becomes unexpectedly strong and resilient —embodying a quiet strength through unity and tension. The series reflects a pursuit of inner balance and harmony in a rapidly changing world. Wrinkles, irregularities, and subtle imperfections in the surface are not hidden but embraced, serving as visible traces of the material’s natural origin and the artist’s hand.
Biography
Dahyeon Yoo (b. 1990s, South Korea) is a contemporary designer and artist whose work investigates the intersection of traditional Korean craft and modern material experimentation. Educated in design and craft disciplines, Yoo has developed a distinctive practice centered on reinterpreting ancestral weaving and plaiting methods through unconventional materials such as vegetable-tanned leather.
Her Harmony Series reflects a deep engagement with Korean cultural heritage, particularly the straw-weaving traditions of the Joseon Dynasty, while addressing contemporary themes of resilience, impermanence, and balance. By embracing the imperfections and natural qualities of leather, Yoo emphasizes the dialogue between fragility and strength, individual gesture and collective structure.
Positioned at the crossroads of craft and sculpture, Yoo’s works resonate with global conversations around sustainability, materiality, and the preservation of intangible heritage. Her practice not only honors the past but also proposes new directions for contemporary design rooted in cultural memory and handcraft.
