{"id":56002,"date":"2025-08-20T10:54:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T01:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/?post_type=insights&#038;p=56002"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:32:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T02:32:22","slug":"eunsi-jo-2025-kiaf-highlights-semi-finalists","status":"publish","type":"insights","link":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/insights\/56002","title":{"rendered":"Eunsi Jo | 2025 Kiaf HIGHLIGHTS Semi-Finalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Eunsi Jo<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56003 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static-edge.kiaf.org\/web\/2025\/08\/20104719\/%EA%B0%A4%EB%9F%AC%EB%A6%AC%EB%B0%88_%EC%A1%B0%EC%9D%80%EC%8B%9C-%EC%9E%91%EA%B0%80-%ED%94%84%EB%A1%9C%ED%95%84-%EC%82%AC%EC%A7%84-e1755654448402.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Artist Eunsi Jo<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Eunsi Jo\u2019s paintings unfold like meticulously constructed codes and riddles. Through the use of symbols, signs, and diagrammatic forms, she visualizes complex narratives about the relationships between individuals and collectives, parts and wholes. The artist focuses on the &#8216;irresistible structures&#8217; of the world\u2014such as family, the food chain, and natural disasters\u2014that cannot be controlled by human will, as well as on the principle of &#8216;resemblance.&#8217; \u201cIn contemporary society,\u201d she notes, \u201cwe exist both as integral individuals and as parts of a larger whole.\u201d Her practice probes the meaning of being within this web of interdependence.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56004 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static-edge.kiaf.org\/web\/2025\/08\/20104752\/Study-of-the-Center-Oil-on-canvas-stainless-Variable-installation-2024-e1755654480733.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"706\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Study of the Center, Oil on canvas, stainless, Variable installation, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Eunsi Jo studied Western painting at Ewha Womans University, where she is currently pursuing her master\u2019s degree. She was selected for the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture\u2019s Young Artist Support Program and was named one of \u2018Almanac: 50 Contemporary Korean Artists\u2019 by Artifacts, marking her as an emerging artist whose future activities are highly anticipated.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56005 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static-edge.kiaf.org\/web\/2025\/08\/20104830\/Scallywag-Oil-on-panel-80.0-x-120.0-x-30.0-cm-2023-e1755654521474.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Scallywag, Oil on panel, 80.0 x 120.0 x 30.0 cm, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Her working methodology is conceptual and meticulous. She explains that \u201cover 90 percent of the process is spent constructing ideas rather than painting,\u201d emphasizing the importance of the underlying logic and narrative embedded behind each canvas. As a result, her works often resemble a \u2018collection of short stories\u2019\u2014dense and layered, and not easily deciphered without context. Every iconographic element and compositional division within her paintings is imbued with intentional meaning.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56006 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static-edge.kiaf.org\/web\/2025\/08\/20104858\/Hardboiled-Oil-on-panel-25-%C3%97-70-cm-2025-e1755654565833.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Hardboiled, Oil on panel, 25 \u00d7 70 cm, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The artist candidly states that \u201cthe greatest driving force behind my work is \u2018enjoyment.\u2019\u201d She adds, \u201cI feel most satisfied when I fill my paintings with symbols and metaphors that only I understand, like secret stories.\u201d This sense of joy in the act of creation gives her the strength to overcome the challenges of balancing artistic practice with everyday life, and allows her to continue working with persistence.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-56007 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static-edge.kiaf.org\/web\/2025\/08\/20104954\/12_0-e1755654602478.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Installation View<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For this year\u2019s Kiaf, Eunsi Jo presents a new series entitled \u2018Brothers on the Ground \u2018and \u2018Brothers in the Ground,\u2019 inspired by the visual layout of a keyboard. Using images such as eggs in a shared nest and beans underground, she constructs a meditation on the \u2018parts that compose a whole.\u2019 \u201cI hope the relationships formed by the images in my work encourage viewers to reflect on their own sense of existence,\u201d she states. Enigmatic and symbol-laden, her paintings offer each viewer a different set of questions\u2014inviting contemplation through visual inquiry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[50,53],"class_list":["post-56002","insights","type-insights","status-publish","hentry","category-insight","category-live-and-talk"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insights\/56002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/insights"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/insights"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}