JooYoung Choi

Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1982, immigrating to Concord, New Hampshire through adoption in the early 1980s.[1][2] She earned her undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and her M.F.A. in Visual Art from the Art Institute of Boston.[3][4]

While in college studying art, Choi traveled to Korea where she tracked down and met her birth parents for the first time. She then began to learn more about her identity and her Korean roots. Many of the art students at the Korean National University commented on how her use of bright colors and innate compositions were reminiscent of traditional Korean art, although she had no intention of this. Her strong messages of compassion and inclusion can also be traced back to Buddhist perspectives and virtues.[5]

Choi's work includes soft sculptures, puppets, paintings, animation, and video art.[6][7][2] Her first puppets were created in 2015 during a residency at Lawndale Art Center, while also working to develop her skills as a painter and finding a love for visually balanced dynamic compositions.[8]

Choi has stated that her and her husband, artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, are both huge Marvel comic fans, as can be seen in her similar use of character building and incorporation of super powers in her work.[9] She has also stated that the Muppets and Walt Disney were a big influence on her work and her use of puppets.[10]

Choi's work has been exhibited many places, such as Crystal Bridges, Akron Art Museum, The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Project Row Houses, The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle, The Currier Museum of Art, The National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, The Art Museum of South East Texas in Beaumont, and the Lawndale Art Center in Houston.[11]

From February 12, 2022 to September 4, 2022, the Crow Museum of Asian Art's exhibition titled JooYoung Choi: Songs of Resilience From the Tapestry of Faith introduced Choi's Cosmic Womb universe, creating a world that explores loss, healing, and growth based upon a web of belief and faith in oneself. Key themes of human resiliency, and inner but also collective strength are found in her storytelling and world building.[12] Her work is both autobiographic and fantasy. The multidisciplinary exhibition incorporates painting, sculpture, puppets, installation, music, and video animation. Choi's video Spectra Force Vive: Infinite Pie Delivery Service features voice actors from around the world in a narrative where children who cannot find their parents create their own families and communities, traveling around the world reminding people that everyone has their own unique path in life.[13] The exhibition also has interactive elements, including a space where visitors are invited to write down their wishes with invisible ink on a piece of paper and are only able to see wishes written by past visitors with a small light illuminating the invisible ink.

• National Endowment for the Arts, Challenge America grant recipient, 2019[16]
• The Idea Fund, Round Eleven Stimulus grant, 2019[17]
• Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Houston Arts Alliance, Support for Artist and Creative Individuals grant, 2019
• Riverfest Artist-in-Residence, 2018[18]
• The Idea Fund, Round Eight Spark grant, 2016[19]
• Artadia Fund for Art and Dialogue, Artadia Award, 2015[8]

• Official Website