YEON JI YOO
A native of South Korea, I immigrated to the United States with my family in 1982, most of my knowledge of this mother country and the rural farmland I was born on are locked in memories from my childhood. As a result, my work today is indelibly marked by the remembrances and the childlike awe which shaped them.
Living most of my life thereafter in New York City, I am trying to maintain connections to my early upbringing, finding parallels to those strong ties in new ones I would develop through my formative years. With imagery grounded in the visions from my youth, I am building a body of work tied together, by the delicate (yet dependable) and robust (yet fickle) bonds that make and break us at our cores.
After earning my B.F.A. at the Cooper Union, I became an arts educator. In 2005, I earned my M.F.A. in New Forms at the Pratt Institute then an M.S. in Environmental Science at the College of Staten Island in 2007. I continue my personal and artistic pursuit in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
You Wanted Me to Catch Love, 2019, cardboard, insect, dried plants, gesso, glue, wood, gold enamel and wire, 12x5x4 in.