I am always influenced by the surroundings in which my work is made. Found objects in a particular place make me imagine what might happened there in the past, as for instance, the ones abandoned in restaurants and art galleries. Found objects are related to places. They describe and obscure territories and reveal the potential of fictional narratives. Based on objects archived from a particular site, I reconstruct them into new forms and transform them into artworks.

 If I had the opportunity to win Jonathan Vickers Fine Art Award, I would like to develop a project at an art university in Derbyshire such as University of Derby, one of the important places to access the local community. In art schools, many materials are abandoned because they do not work in the process of making finished artworks. I want to define materials that did not become artworks as ‘unfinished’ and ‘unwanted’ works without calling them ‘abandoned’ works. I believe that the materials are not abandoned but are waiting for another artist to transform it into a new artwork. If I stay in Derbyshire for nine months, the artwork I want to create there aims to use unfinished work obtained from art students as materials to study the artists´ criteria to define when they finish a work, and to embody the relationship between finished and unfinished work in a sculptural form.

 In addition, the work I want to make involves visiting the different workshops of an art university in Derbyshire, such as wood, ceramics, and collecting unfinished works that would go to waste. When I use unfinished works, I may need to get permission from the art student of the work. This process reveals that my work is also related to the narrative of materials, places, and art students. I will interview them about why this material was unfinished and that is an important foundation for my work. Everything I will get from an art school needs permission even if it is abandoned. This is because the objects of the art school are closely connected to the individual. If I develop this work further, I might be able to collaborate with art students in Derbyshire. This work has a documentary element. It is important to record the process of making works. I would like to take a video of my journey working in Derbyshire and then exhibit it with my works that will be completed at the end.

 If I could work in Derbyshire, the experience would change my work as well as me. The work I want to make in Derbyshire is not about natural landscape. However, the work is related to one of the local places, an art school, and the people I meet there. It is a social landscape. My work goes beyond the visual landscape and can relate to the places and people in the landscape, as well as to local heritage.

Da-Hyoung Choi

Born in South Korea.

Currently lives and works in Lisbon. (Back in London on August, 2023)

EDUCATION

2016-2019 BA Fine Art, Loughborough University, UK

2020-2022 MA Contemporary art, University of Edinburgh, UK

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018 LSA Annual Exhibition, New Walk Museum, UK

2019 Making a Mark Exhibition, Manufacturing Technology Centre, UK

2020 FBA Futures 2020, Mall Galleries, UK 

2021 Loose Thread, Edinburgh Gallery Society, UK

2022 An Unravelling, Embassy Gallery, UK

2022 Tough Crowd, Whitespace, UK

2023 PADA exhibition, Portugal

2023 Obras Inacabadas, Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal (Upcoming)

RESIDENCIES

2023 PADA Residency, Portugal

2023 Hangar Residency, Portugal

AWARDS 

2018 Winner, LSA Student Award, UK

2019 Winner, Artists’ Collecting Society Materials Prize, UK 

2019 Winner, Edward Sharp Prize, UK