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CANDICE JOO캔디스 주
b.1983, Arlington, Virginia. Lives and works in Seoul, Korea
Candice Joo (b.1983) creates paintings and sculptures of chains to explore notions of individuality, collectivity, and the potential powers in each. Joo’s tensely arranged yet tightly interconnected landscapes of chains are where she reimagines ideas of the empowered self and of collective power. Joo received her BFA from the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Select solo exhibitions have been held at Cheongdam Gallery and Punto Blu in Seoul, Korea. Joo’s work has been featured in group shows at Space Sieon in Jeonju, Korea and Jang Cheon Gallery in Seoul, Korea.
While employed at an architectural company, she saw a collection of stationary equipment during a visit of a chemical complex. The devices had interwoven metal pipes that resembled human anatomy and seemed to exhibit a life force and vigor similar to that produced by the human body. These metallic pipes resembled her own appearance. She acknowledged that human reasoning is imperfect and that the image she sees in the mirror is a notion that can only be corroborated by others. In 2015, she transitioned to painting and sculpture to pursue her artistic expression.
Chains function as a crucial element for the artist to enhance her work and as a medium for articulating ideas. The luminous metals in her works are sometimes cut and disjointed, while at other times they are interwoven in various ways or amalgamated into a chain to create exquisite shapes. Joo used a paintbrush and oil paint to depict the rings in a clear and exact pattern that originates in her mind. Upon closer inspection, multiple lines seem transparent and unclear at their peripheries, shown as interlaced lines that reflect one another. She used several crossing lines to create a surface, so concealing its edges and colors. Joo aims for the audience to comprehend her portrayal of the deep complexity of former connections and current limitations.
Exhibitions
Refraction/ Abstraction