Biography

Born in 1958 in Seoul, South Korea, my artistic life began at an early age. My father was an architect who inspired me, helping me to build my artistic career.

While attending E-hwa Art School in Seoul, I studied with Sang-ki Son, an ingenious artist who mentored me for eight years. I then owned my own art studio in Korea and taught students for twenty years. Before I came to the United States, I was involved in five solo exhibits and over one hundred and fifty group exhibitions.

I traveled widely before I came to America, in order to grow my creativity and to integrate different cultures into my work. Initially, in Korea, I focused on oil painting, drawing, and acrylic painting. Now I pursue modern art and mixed media. My studies at the New Hampshire Institute of Art have encouraged this expansion. While the educational platform in Korea emphasizes results, the American system is more focused on process, urging students to develop their ideas and styles through exploration. Personally, I love the American teaching style, because it feels natural to me, matching the rhythm of my breath and the unfolding of insight.

In my work, the things that I see, feel, and hope are transcribed. My paintings are metaphors: stories of nature and the texture of human life expressed in a formative beauty. The bird and the moon that often appear in my paintings are messengers, conveying the dreams and hopes of our lives. It is my goal to paint life? soft, warm, and peaceful images in ways that soothe the viewer? mind and body.

My `Together` paintings symbolize peace, comfort, fellowship, harmony, and love. People who live in the moon village weave their stories, filled with dreams, throughout their lives. The densely connected bird on a nature landscape slope represents the connection of people who never lose their senses of humor or their smiles. I find that mixed media/collage, which includes diverse forms of media, allows me to more adeptly express the human journey. In Together, I have sometimes painted on fabric, to further convey the importance of our interrelationships. As fabric is woven with many kinds of threads, our communities are composed of people from all walks of life. I also frequently use latticed technique or materials such as a wire net and wood in my paintings, in order to depict togetherness. I believe that when we are woven together into communities, we are stronger, more interesting and beautiful, and more whole.

Soorye Yoo