Robert Choe-Henderson

Robert Choe-Henderson is a Korean American artist and educator living in Florida. Inspired by the resiliency of the Asian diaspora casting across fine arts, craft, and book cultures, Robert uses his training in traditional East Asian papermaking and book arts to explore ethnic and gender dynamics within Asian American identity through an interdisciplinary approach to exhibition and scholarship. Spending most of his childhood surrounded by practitioners of traditional Korean papercrafts, his adaptations to hanji (Korean handmade paper) and jiseung (traditional paper weaving) are profound in his sculptural artist’s books and woven structures. He remembers the hours of paper twisting and cording alongside his halmony, listening to memories of a life stricken with heartache during an occupied Korea, redevelopment after the war, and shock within new American culture. Paying homage to halmony’s transparency, he brings his own narratives to tangible form, connecting Korean roots with American jadedness. Developing trust through creative expression, no matter the uneasiness, is necessary for valuable connections between history and its people. He hopes his lens opens other avenues for all peoples to explore their truths without censorship. 

Robert's mission is to promote and teach the rich histories of Korean craft as part of a small handful of hanji practitioners and researchers in the United States. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts from Western Carolina University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. He currently serves on the executive board for the Cherokee County Arts Council of North Carolina. Some of his most recent adventures include residencies at Penland School of Craft as a Distinguished Fellow in Papermaking for Winter 2025, The Art Center of Blue Ridge, GA Winter and Spring 2025, and Elf School of the Arts of Hayesville, NC Fall 2024.  Robert also looks forward to his upcoming November 2025 residency at the Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, OH.