MINJI CHOI

Lives and works in New York, NY

Artist statement

My work begins with writing. In small handwriting, I record people I have observed, a posture, a face held for a second, usually in short poems. There is a trigger behind these observations: moments when the desire to belong reveals itself. Because this desire seeps through in many forms, I capture it in my own images. These images are not the desire itself, but what we create around it. Knowing how vulnerable this desire is, we give it names such as love, recognition, and intimacy. In this context, I trace the two faces of intimacy: how affection becomes a language of negotiation, how comfort conceals vulnerability, and how a relationship can function as both shelter and surveillance. Painting is where I translate my writing, pressing into the places where that translation fails. I let it fail, separating the work from the story I first wrote. The observed figure remains, released from the person described, and stands on the canvas as itself. Maternal forms appear again and again: breasts, knees, bodies arranged to hold or encircle another body. They suggest both shelter and dependence. Alongside them, I place two kinds of forms: polished shoes and neckties, and animals such as horses and lobsters. One speaks of order and expectation; the other of something smaller and more vulnerable. They press against the figures, leaving the encounter suspended. Paintings are built in layers. I work with oil paint, oil-based ink, and cold wax medium, pressing materials into the...

Artwork