STATEMENT
Lately my work has evolved into more reductive forms of yin-yang from my earlier images such as “fish and cactus”, “the mountains and the seas,” and “verticals and horizontals”. If my earlier work dealt with finding compromises between two opposing forces, my current work focuses on acceptance of conflicts and boundaries.
Water continues to stimulate my imagination. Growing up on the banks of Han River and roaming the shores of Korean peninsula, I never got tired of watching the tide. The tidal wave and its movements were pure yin-yang. I seek out oceans and mountains in my travels all over the world. I find the geometric form of the Korean male/female symbol naturally appearing in my compositions because it expresses nature as well as concept of human relationships.
My abstract paintings come from intense experience of landscapes and emotions in the past and present. For instance, when hurricane Katrina evoked the memories of the annual flooding of the Han River, it inspired me to do Katrina paintings. For my visual language, the yin-yang symbol works like the armature of lines Francis Bacon used to contain his amorphous figures, keeping them from slipping away.
BIOGRAPHY
Suejin Jo, Korean born abstract painter based in New York, studied with Stamos and Vytlacil at the Art Students League where she won McDowell Fellowship juried by Richard Pousette D’art and Romare Bearden. One often finds dichotomy in Jo's work such as delicate lines with mass of color or in the theme “fish and cactus”. Jo used to paint with unique medium of oil and dry pigment using the process of "inlay" as Korean potters of the 11th century. Helen Harrison of The NY Times described Jo's painting as having “the character of an ancient wall painting”. Jo won Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Solo Exhibition Award sponsored by the NY Artists Equity Association and juried by DC Moore Gallery. Jo participated in Pool Art Fair, New York and Miami 2007, Manif 2008 in Seoul Korea, Scope with Chashama, AAF with Tria Gallery, KSK Fine Art, Julio Valdez Studio. Her last solo show was in John Molloy Gallery in Manhattan NY City in 2020. Jo's work is in many private and public collections including Library of Congress, Chase Manhattan Bank, General Instrument Company, Embassy of San Marino, NAPABA Law Foundation, Sogang University, Ahl Foundation, 9/11 Memorial Museum, Art in General and Korea Exchange Bank. Jo's paintings were included in the US Embassy Exhibitions in East Timor and Mexico City. US State Department chose Jo's "Pontchartrain" to be included in 2012 desk calendar, "Homage to American Women Artists".