Woo Jin Joo is a textile artist working predominantly with embroidery. Based in London, her practice explores her East Asian heritage through mythology, folklore and shamanism and how these ancient belief systems manifest in contemporary culture.
From sculptures of creatures and demi-gods, to patchworks of symbols and iconography, her practice centres non-human perspectives and imagines alternative futures where life is sustained by multi-species collaboration and entanglements.
A Long Long Time Ago is part of Woo Jin’s sculpture series titled Dokkaebi, which explores a Korean traditional mythological creature called Dokkaebi, known to have formed from spiritual possession of inanimate objects.
Taking the ancient mythology as her inspiration, the series transforms daily objects into imagined spirited beings, materialising the intangible cultural heritage for the contemporary context.
Often working with found and old objects, her work has a unique ability to connect with people emotionally; whether that be through humour or nostalgia.
These objects and materials offer an intriguing entry point into the artist’s imagination that makes her work widely appealing to the public.
