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© Jinseok Choi

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Jinseok Choi

Los Angeles

Artist Statement

As a Los Angeles-based artist from Seoul, South Korea, I am invested in exploring the points of connection between disparate cultures, social classes, and histories, as well as how these disparities have a marginalizing effect on social groups shaped by Western hegemony. My work incorporates residues, byproducts, and imprints born of labor, time, memories, and personal and public histories. By integrating these charged materials into my art practice, I seek to honor the physical, collective presence of all we have left behind in our labors and hint at our unseen potential and the possibility of alternate histories and counterfactual realities.

My recent works incorporate remnants from various sources of physical labor, including my own experiences as a professional woodworker, the labor of other immigrant workers in the garment industry, and the contributions of railroad workers in the 19th century, many of whom were immigrants. Materials such as sawdust, wood scraps, railway spikes, and fabric remnants not only symbolize the often unrecognized labor that has profoundly influenced the history of America but also allude to the potential and beauty inherent in everyday labor as a collective effort.

© Jinseok Choi

Jinseok Choi's Portfolio

© Jinseok Choi

Artist Biography

Jinseok Choi is an interdisciplinary artist who investigates our current cultural moment by researching historical and cultural contexts and weaving together seemingly unrelated issues via sculpture, installation, performance, and video. His recent works have been shown at various art venues in South Korea and the U.S., including Amado Art Space, Human Resources Los Angeles, The Box, and Werkarts. He has participated in multiple residency programs, such as Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, The Studios at Mass MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, and Otis Summer Residency, and was also recently nominated for the Rema Hort Mann Foundation’s Emerging Artist Grant (2020). As a public event organizer deeply involved in local art scenes, he co-founded an artist-run space, Space 1, in Seoul, South Korea, in 2012, and also a mobile project space, MOTOR, in Los Angeles, in 2021. He received his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2018. He was born and raised in Seoul, and currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

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@jinseok_choi_

© Jinseok Choi

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