Naoko Wowsugi
Naoco Wowsugi (Sang Ja Chun) is a Korean-Japanese artist who lives in Washington D.C., United States.[1] Wowsugi won an award from the Smithsonian Museum, the National Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.[2][3] Much of her art is made by many people working together. She is a professor at American University.[4] In 2023, Wowsugi changed the spelling of her first name from "Naoko" to "Naoco" to endorse U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[5]
Early life and education
Wowsugi was born and raised in Japan.[6] She is of South Korean descent.[6] Her Korean name is Sang Ja Chun.[7] When she was small, she dealt with social alienation, caused by being mixed-race Korean and Japanese.[6] [8] Wowsugi studied in the Osaka University of Arts while she was in Japan. [9][1] She later moved to the United States.[9][1] She graduated from the Kansas Art Institute. She graduated with a BFA from both schools.[9][1] “As an artist, I emigrated from another country to America,” says Wowsugi. “Art making always connects people and I learn about the community."[10] She then started expressing "contemporary social community" through art at Rockville, a city near Washington DC.[11] Wowsugi got her Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University.[12]
Career
Wowsugi brings people together with collective hands on art projects that give back to their community.
Wowsugi moved to Minneapolis, MN, USA.[13] She began doing haircuts as performance art.[13] She used the cut hair in her A Hairy Tale exjhibit.[14]
She started creating community projects In 2019 in Charleston, she started a Community project called the Fungus among us.[8] [9] Inspired by the mycelium network, more than 200 community members, toddlers to elders, collaborated together to create a mushroom parade in the neighborhood.[8] The goal of this project was to show how fungi/mushrooms are so closely connected, similar to a strong community. [8] Apart from this, her second project was called MICROCOSMOS. It was a planetarium about mushrooms.[8] It was open for 10 days, and more than 2,000 people attended.[8] Wowsugi is giving her community what she didn’t have as a child.[6] Her goal is to make sure no one feels left out, no matter their age, gender or race.[6][10][15][8]
She was a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. She now teaches at American University.[4]
Wowsugi won theThe Outwin portrait award in 2016.[2] Her work, "Thank Your for Teaching Me English," is many portraits of people who taught her a word in English.[2] She painted their picture and recorded them saying the word.[2] 2016: American Portraiture Today (Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery)
Wowsugi was an Artist-in-Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in 2017.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "American University Washington D.C." www.american.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Thank You for Teaching Me English by Naoko Wowsugi". The Outwin: American Portraiture Today | Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. Archived from the original on 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ↑ Roger, Catlin. "Every Three Years, Artists Compete to Be On View at the National Portrait Gallery. Here Are the Winners". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jenkins, M. (2015). In the galleries: At hamiltonian, a birthday celebration of a different sort. The Washington Post. Retrieved from ProQuest.
- ↑ "New Year Resolution for 2023". Naoco Wowsugi. 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Naoko Wowsugi : Group Portrait Journey". LENSCRATCH. 2017-01-28. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ↑ Sang Ja Chun (2011). "Homage to Everyday People". Virginia Commonwealth University Scholar's Compass. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 "Naoco Wowsugi". Naoco Wowsugi. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Naoko Wowsugi Guided Artist Lecture". Dirt. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Reports, Staff (2019-03-13). "Redux and Enough Pie team up to show us how mushrooms connect everything and everyone". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ↑ "Naoko Wowsugi "Permacounterculture"". SHIFT. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ↑ "Long Ago, Far Away Is Right Now". Richmond Arts Review. 2012-06-22.[dead link]
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Kaufmann, G. (2005, Aug 18). Tails of the city; naoko wowsugi ponies up some head sculptures. PitchWeekly Retrieved from ProQuest.
- ↑ Braverman, R., Fischer, A., & Kaufmann, G. (2005, Mar 10). Art capsule reviews; our critics recommend these shows. PitchWeekly Retrieved from ProQuest.
- ↑ ReduxStudios1056 (2019-03-13). "March 13: Redux and Enough Pie team up to show us how mushrooms connect everything and everyone -". Retrieved 2023-01-19.
- ↑ "Past Residents Captiva | Robert Rauschenberg Foundation". www.rauschenbergfoundation.org. Retrieved 2023-02-13.