Show displays power of storytelling

By Becky Mayad

Culminating a multi-year series celebrating Texas-based contemporary Asian women artists, 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. Featuring the works of a Houston-based multidisciplinary artist whose paintings, videos, sculptures, animations, music and installations merge the autobiographical with the fantastical, the exhibition will run now through Sept. 4 at the Crow Museum, located in the Dallas Arts District at 2010 Flora St., Dallas 75201. 

JooYoung Choi: Songs of Resilience from the Tapestry of Faith marks the third and final offering of the museum’s Texas Asian Women Artists series, which kicked off in January 2020 to honor the innovative work of contemporary Texas-based Asian women artists. The artists presented in this program focus on contemporary issues both in Texas and abroad, giving voice to complex, humanized stories of identity, place, tradition and modernity. Previous artists were Austin-based Chinese artist Beili Liu, who presented Beili Liu: One and Another in 2020 and Dallas-based Japanese artist Kana Harada, who presented Divine Spark in 2021. 

“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.” 

JooYoung Choi (pronounced JOO-Yung Chay), known as a multidisciplinary world builder, uses explosive color through a variety of mediums to document the interconnecting narratives of a highly-structured, expansive, fictional land she has devised and titled the Cosmic Womb. In creating the Cosmic Wombmultiverse, Choi expresses human resiliency and the strength that can be found through the power of storytelling.

In her vibrant and imaginatively charged work, Choi explores issues of identity, belonging, trauma and resilience through the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Born in South Korea and brought to the U.S. through adoption, her inspiration comes from her own personal journey and experiences and the media of her childhood, as well as her ongoing research on identity and American media’s representation of girls, women, intersex, transgender and non-binary people of color. 

In her first Dallas museum presentation, this exhibition introduces the Cosmic Womb and its various characters and narratives, exploring themes of loss, healing and growth, and forms a tapestry of belief and faith in oneself.

“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.” 

In addition to presenting a variety of paintings and large-scale soft-sculptural works, the exhibition will also include the first museum screening of Choi’s newest film “Spectra Force Vive: Infinite Pie Delivery Service,” which features an ensemble cast of puppets, animated characters and human actors, and was made with contributions from actors, voice talent, artists, musicians and puppeteers from around the world. The film introduces viewers to incredible superheroes who are impacted by an intergalactic war, and brings us along a journey as they attempt to save the interdependent web of reality by freeing all of the untold stories and silenced truths of the universe. 

“Each work I create is connected to an imaginary world I call the Cosmic Womb, a fantastic realm filled with wondrous creatures, extraordinary heroes, terrible villains, epic intergalactic battles and daring adventures,” said Choi. “Although the stories are rooted in science fiction, the message behind each tale is rooted in truth. At the core of each piece is my faith and my enduring belief in an infinite force energy — a love beyond love that connects and flows through us all.”

Currently residing in Houston, Choi has a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. 

Admission is free and suggested donations are $12 for adults. For more information, go to crowmuseum.org or call 214-979-6430.