Opening Saturday, February 12–September 4, the Crow Museum of Asian Art of the University of Texas at Dallas will present JooYoung Choi: Songs of Resilience from the Tapestry of Faith in the third and final artist of the Crow Museum’s multi-year series celebrating Texas-based contemporary Asian women artists.
“I have admired JooYoung’s career for many years and am honored to have her as our third artist in our Texas Asian Women Artist series. The depth and complexity of her work invites viewers to step into an alternate world of her own creation and, subsequently, into her own personal experiences, thoughts, and emotions,” said Amy Lewis Hofland, senior director of the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas. “This opportunity to share such intimate space speaks to JooYoung’s naturally giving nature as an artist and a person.”
Through the exhibition, discover a land that exists outside of our world. 7200 light years away from Earth there is a planet called the Cosmic Womb, on that planet, there is a continent that stretches over approximately 6,732 miles. It is filled with vivid, psychedelic-colored, humanoid talking creatures-better known as Tuplets, who have special powers, an octopus named Putt-Putt that makes a regular appearance, and guardian angels all governed by Queen Kiok.
The subjects in the Cosmic Womb have a connection to our Earth, more than just a reflection, Choi’s paracosm intertwines Earth’s history, current events, and shortcomings, into a world of hope and immersive narratives. For example, there is one Earthling from Concord, New Hampshire named C.S. Watson that inhabits the land. Concord is where Choi was raised after her adoption from South Korea. The distance from Concord, New Hampshire to Seoul, South Korea is 6,732 miles. Have Faith You Have Always Been Loved reads the national motto of the Cosmic Womb tied directly to Choi’s upbringing and experiences. It is safe to say that the womb is intricate, intimate, and deeply layered into the essence of Choi.
It is difficult to fully explain Choi’s work, just as it is difficult to fully explain our world, though try as we might. However, what seems apt, is to position Choi as a multidisciplinary world-builder, as the artist utilizes video, painting, photography, and sculpture in her professional practice. Her inspiration comes from her own personal journey and experiences, the media of her childhood, and her ongoing research on identity and American media’s representation of girls, women, intersex, transgender and non-binary people of color. Additionally, she explores issues of identity, belonging, trauma and resilience, and healing. She’s stated that she wants her art to provide a place for the healing of loss and for those forgotten to be rediscovered.
If she had a superpower, like one of her characters Spacia Tanno-a Black Star a powerful sentient star being, it would be the power of storytelling. Choi talks about her characters as though alive; she uses them to funnel creativity, productivity, and research. Their storylines are detailed, immersive, and interconnected. For Choi, the narratives she explores must feel real and rooted in some way to her daily life and the world at large.
Growing up in Merrimack County, a population that was 99.15% white in 1980, Choi did not know many people that looked like her. Indicative of the art world at large, Choi didn’t see herself reflected in museums, in the stained glass of churches, or sculptures and paintings that line public buildings. In response, Choi created a colorful world that would make her younger self feel heard and safe, where she hopes that others can be too.
In her first Dallas museum presentation, this exhibition introduces the Cosmic Womb and its various characters and narratives to the city. “In a time when many are experiencing feelings of loss, sorrow, displacement, invisibility and oppression, JooYoung Choi’s Cosmic Womb uses imagery, narrative, and sound to present a bright alternative world and an inclusive place of belonging,” says Jacqueline Chao, senior curator of Asian art at the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas. “Whether drawn from her own personal experiences, or mirroring a real-life situation, or based purely from the imagination, her work attempts to bring hope to anyone who has experienced challenging situations.”
Beginning Saturday, visitors can step into her imagined universe and be filled by the love and effort Choi pours into her work. In the depths of the Songs of Resilience from the Tapestry of Faith, one may remember that they, like all the work displayed, are deeply loved, connected and rich with extraordinary powers. A fantastical world indeed.
In addition to paintings and sculptural works, the exhibition also includes the first museum screening of Choi’s newest film, Spectra Force Vive: Infinite Pie Delivery Service.