Fine Art & Jewelry Merge at Jinsol Woo’s First Art Exhibition with Gallery STAN in LA

You might recognize the name Jinsol Woo for a myriad of reasons: the multidisciplinary artist is a well-known jewelry designer with his own brand OHTNYC and has been interviewed by major platforms such as Rolling Stone and Teen Vogue (as well as here on Resident!) The creative is now expanding the world he’s built for his audiences even further, and taking us with him deeper into it.

Woo announced his first fine art exhibition and art piece “Butterfly Binyeo” (나비 비녀) this past week in Los Angeles in collaboration with his fashion brand OHTNYC, marking the creative director’s foray into the fine art world. The new direction comes alongside his existing jewelry line (where customers can purchase and engage with a piece of the artist’s own soul) to allow for yet another medium so that no matter what, everyone in the world of Jinsol Woo can find a unique way to engage and relate to the designer’s creations and worldview. “I just like creating, in any form. Obviously, [fine] art is a large piece of that – it just makes sense that I move into that space. I want to be more three-dimensional in many ways; I want the piece to have different aspects, unlike the jewelry. I intentionally used a transparent butterfly, and a reflective mirrored mannequin so that the light can be absorbed and reflected at the same time,” the artist explains about the piece. “I had the head rotate, to show so many lights onto the figure, by the figure, and from the figure.” 

Jinsol Woo belongs to the sacred rare breed of creatives that don’t just call themselves an artist by way of work, but by genuine nature. His pieces never feel forced, and speak directly to the world through his eyes. When asked if the art-making process feels different for each artistic venture, Woo denies a specific process for each medium but feels that “the presentation was [what was] different. I had more fun – creating any piece is fun, but what I really enjoy is the lighting. I like when things sparkle, and I was happy to be able to enhance that aspect” to bring his vision to life more deeply than jewelry pieces and photography usually allow for. 

However, bringing the piece itself to Los Angeles from New York, the artist’s current home, presented some challenges. “It was a big piece to bring, and the logistics for it meant that if something broke or was deconstructed, I’d have to spend all day fixing it.” Woo stands by his choices for display though, happy to note that the rotational display and three-dimensional shapes enhanced the work greatly. He says audiences were captivated, especially with its lighting aspects – “they thought it stood out the most from all the pieces…It was inspired by a traditional Korean hairpin, so they were pleasantly surprised at how it was executed in a Y2K meets seventies disco manner, mixed into one piece.” The work is a new interpretation of a Korean traditional piece into what’s trending now, while “still looking to the past for those influences rather than from the future,” says Woo. 

This is unique and makes the project special – much of what we see right now in contemporary art and couture fashion in combining traditional attire with modern attire leans heavily skewed towards the futuristic, even cyber-inspired. Combining multiple past time period elements that somehow blend into a seemingly modern take makes this work feel truly transcendent or timeless: it could be called “Y2K,” “1970s,” “vintage,” or “modern” but in taking so many archival references into one, the art still builds a total image that feels extremely relevant today. It was “a very fun piece, and I want to do more like this. It feels good to actually create more of a fine art [opposed to tangible yet commercial jewelry] – I call myself an artist, so it makes sense to make more fine art as well,” Woo shared.

For a first exhibition, the work was well-received on social media and in-person at the gallery space, Gallery STAN. Gallery STAN is a contemporary art gallery in New York, Los Angeles, and Seoul that is committed to supporting an ongoing intellectual and visual dialogue with emerging contemporary artists working in a variety of media. In addition to representing and cultivating young, emerging contemporary artists, the gallery presents exceptional solo exhibitions and dynamic group shows. It publishes a variety of catalogs and participates in international art fairs – fitting for an international artist like Jinsol Woo. Woo also hinted at expansion to New York for his fine art journey, saying the team is “building a second exhibition in New York currently as well,” where he has a home base and strong following for his OHTNYC work. 

When asked about his experience in finding the right gallery space for his first exhibition, Woo shared that the right fit emerged from his own network. The creative is firmly rooted in giving his circle a platform, such as fitting the art piece on his own stylist JingJing Jia for promotional images and hiring OHTNYC’s graphic designer for the posters, and his network in turn elevates his work too. For new fine artists, galleries and network can often feel like a roadblock, but Woo has some golden advice for creatives: “Funnily enough, networking is the least thing that I care about in my life. I don’t go out to meet people, to socialize…but I’ve been doing this [art field] now for a long time and have found that if you prove yourself, then network follows. You get to meet people organically through your work, and that’s when you actually have something to offer each other. You could go to the bar, the club, the party, just to meet somebody, and sure you can get their contact, but what do you have to offer to them anyways?” Woo advises, “If you have this intention to know someone to use it for your own benefit, then obviously you have to have something to offer. Just because you met them somewhere doesn’t mean they’ll magically give you something you need, if you have nothing to offer. That being said, yes, I have a good network – but it’s not something I sweated about at the start of the journey.”

The multidisciplinary artist is poised for explosive growth, and wants new viewers of his work to know that he is creating freely as he goes, without any rules. “Even mixing all of these different references into one piece…as long as it comes together and looks good in the end, that’s all that matters,” he explains, “similar to how norms and boundaries don’t matter in OHTNYC.” Jinsol Woo wants to make people think through his artwork and his visions, challenging what they have come to expect through their own experiences in their lives. It’s safe to say that we can expect further boundless fine art and expansive work from Jinsol Woo in the future, as he continues to grow his creative universe and bring his audiences along with him into the realm of nonconformity, temporal transcendence, and pure art.

CREDITS

Fashion editor & writer: Laur Weeks @Laur.Weeks

Artist & designer: Jinsol Woo @jinsolwoo 

In collaboration with: OHTNYC @ohtnyc

Gallery: Gallery STAN, Los Angeles @project_stan.la

Model: JingJing Jia @8bit.gurl

Photography courtesy of PR and Daniel Nguyen.