BIO

ALL IMAGES ©JOOYOUNG CHOI 2013.

Biography
JooYoung Choi was born in South Korea. She was adopted to an American family from Concord, New Hampshire. While completing her BFA she was reunited with her birth-family. Choi received both her BFA and MFA in Boston, Massachusetts. JooYoung resides Houston, TX.

Artist Statement

Through painting, video art, animation, puppetry and music I document the stories of a land called the “Cosmic Womb”. This paracosm (a highly structured imaginary world) spans approximately 6,732 miles, and is governed  by Queen Kiok, six humanoid creatures called Tuplets: Lady K, Aidee Three, Emo Flowers (No. 36), Kun-Yook Six, Novem Nine, Haneul-Sek aka Blue Girl, and one earthling from Concord, NH named C.S. Watson.  

The narrative of this imaginary world is used as a tool to investigate a variety of themes such as: representation as affirmation, racism and systemic oppression, personal/political identity and memory. 

The purpose of my work is to:  

 1. Address challenging issues through playful narratives. 

2. Develop formally compelling imagery. 

3. Engage viewers in a manner that is accessible and invokes curiosity, learning, and discourse.

 

“On canvases of intense color JooYoung Choi represents the struggle for self-definition. The characters of her narrative compositions are locked in serious play as manifestations of the conflicting components of her mind as they work toward the resolution of personal integration. Confessional yet guarded within an armor of metaphor, her work invites the viewer to recognize her search to be one common to us all.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     — Tony Apesos