Eunsi Jo (b. 1999) focuses on “irresistible structures” beyond human control—such as family, the food chain, and natural disasters—as well as on the principle of “resemblance.” Drawing on the interrelations between the individual and the community, and between the part and the whole, she presents distinctive paintings that unfold the meaning of existence through forms resembling signs, symbols, and diagrams.

Eunsi Jo’s paintings unfold like intricately designed codes or riddles. Spending more time conceiving ideas than painting itself, she meticulously constructs the logic and narratives hidden behind the canvas. As such, each icon and segmented form within her works carries its own meaning, making them akin to a “collection of short stories” in the guise of a two-dimensional painting.

Through “resemblance” and “irresistibility,” Jo introduces unforeseen events into her canvases. By arranging elements that are situationally or formally alike within a single composition, she prompts viewers to analyze and decipher them, triggering chains of imagination. 

For instance, Distressed Day (2023) prompts the viewer to imagine violence inflicted upon a tree by linking the red objects falling from it with the row of violent tools arranged on the right side of the canvas. The Providence of Nature (2023) also generates events through the connections among elements within the composition. The canvas is divided around a central gun, while a red curve appears to indicate the sequence of events.

Yet, as the eye follows this curve, it eventually circles back from egg to bird, and from bird to egg again, tracing a cycle without a definitive beginning or end. Looking more closely at the narrative within the canvas, the left side depicts a bird hunting an insect, while the right side shows a hunter preying on the bird. 

Within the cyclical structure of the painting, the bird shifts from predator to prey; following the curve, the dead bird hatches again from an egg and returns to the role of predator consuming insects. In this way, the artist unfolds the providence of nature—where life and death endlessly recur—through an allegorical structure of interconnected events that appear sequentially in different forms.

Meanwhile, in Same Way (2023), Eunsi Jo explores the irresistible providence of nature—life and death—through the principle of “resemblance” between the erupting volcano and the spraying sprinkler. While both share the imagery of eruption, one serves as a metaphor for death and extinction, and the other for life and growth. 

The dinosaur bones depicted at the bottom of the canvas connect to the meaning of death and extinction, while the image of verdant grass alludes to life and growth. Yet, rather than emphasizing this binary structure, the artist focuses on their formal and situational resemblance, revealing not two separate realms but a single interconnected world.

Furthermore, Eunsi Jo extends these relationships beyond the imagined world within the canvas into the realm of reality. The elements that once circulated and connected only within the divided pictorial space now reach into the real world through the wooden panel that serves as the canvas frame. 

This attempt was first realized in Fake Tree and Honeycomb (2023). Although a tree is painted on the wooden panel, the depicted tree does not reference a real tree but instead takes as its original model an artificial one made from lumber. As a result, the wooden panel that functions as the canvas shifts from a subsidiary role to becoming the prototype of the painted tree itself, emerging as the hidden protagonist.

In this way, Eunsi Jo expands the relationships between part and whole, original and imitation, reality and the virtual—not only within the canvas but also through interactions with external elements.
 
In A Distant Relative (2023), this approach takes the form of an installation that extends further beyond the canvas. The image of an underwater whirlpool painted on a wooden panel is connected to a sculptural water cup with red thread, integrating the painted representation of water and real water into a single physical structure. 

Continuing beyond this work, Jo has pursued formal experiments that move between painting and installation, proposing expanded sensory experiences of the tensions inherent in the diverse relationships that shape the world we inhabit.

The ‘Study of the Center’ series, presented in 2024, reveals the fluidity of systems that appear stable by using the weight of pendulums and the tension of fabric, questioning the illusion of the “center” on which humans rely. Canvas hangs on both the front and back of a central steel clothing rack, balanced by a weight suspended below. However, this equilibrium is not quite fixed; it shifts slightly in response to the weight’s position and the canvas’s tension.  

Originally conceived as part of a set of three hurdle-shaped pieces, each work features symbolic illustrations of opposing proverbs on either side: “Any tree will fall if struck ten times” versus “Like throwing an egg at a rock,” and “Even the lightest load is easier carried together” versus “Too many hands at the helm, and the ship sails off course.” These contradictions reveal that even systems encoded in language rest upon conflicting perspectives.

The coexistence of contradictory proverbs speaks to our lived understanding that there is no single truth that fits every circumstance, no fate entirely fixed. Just as Jo constructs meanings of stability and balance through affinities between images—such as stone and stone mountain, desert and sandcastle—and through the pendulum’s weight, while at the same time creating precarious and fluid structures, these hurdle-shaped pieces expose the illusion of what appears absolute and stable.

Furthermore, in her 2025 solo exhibition 《TwinFlame》 at YK Presents, Eunsi Jo used symbols both inside and outside the canvas to go beyond mere spatial composition, visually revealing the relationship between signifier and signified and expanding the narrative of her works. 

On one wall-filling canvas, a scene of rough, surging waves was depicted. Over the rippling water and white foam, an empty metal bucket hovered, while small breakwaters were placed at the bottom. In this scene, each element functions independently as a distinct entity, yet they intertwine and combine to convey a unified, larger meaning.

In her other works as well, all the subjects composing a scene initially exist as separate entities, but through their interactions, they visually enact the process of generating new meanings and identities. At times, a painting within a divided panel is placed atop a three-dimensional structure, creating a sense of tension as if an unexpected event is about to occur. 

The various segmented panels and the elements within them play a crucial role in enabling viewers to construct meaning themselves, guiding the moment when these individualized entities converge to form a single, unified flow.

Just as individuality and totality coexist and interact within each work, the pieces scattered throughout the exhibition space form relational structures and connections. While the works exhibit a nonlinear structure, the viewer’s gaze links similar elements, producing a linear flow. 

Additionally, symbols such as lines and triangles are placed over the works, creating an inseparable relationship akin to that between signifier and signified. In the 《TwinFlame》 exhibition, these symbols functioned not merely to organize spatial composition but as key devices that reinforce the narrative of the works.

The symbols pose enigmatic questions to the viewer, prompting them to infer the narrative, and in the process, previously independent elements—such as the sea, buckets, breakwaters, whirlpools, hurricanes, tornadoes, trees, and night—become entangled, forming a concrete contextual network. The symbols in the exhibition do not arise from mere spontaneity; rather, as diagrammatic tools, they serve as crucial keys for recognizing the flow of connections, tracing the trajectory of relationships.

Similarly, her 2025 solo exhibition 《At the Edge of Atlas’s Shoulder》 (GalleryMEME) guided viewers toward sensory thinking through the relationships and repetitions among images, symbols, and signs. Each work is interpreted based on the affinities between images and the relationships among signs and misperceptions.

For example, in the series Siblings Above (2025) and Siblings Below (2025), which borrow the shape of a keyboard, seeds or eggs are arranged in parallel across the canvas. These two symbols—the seed and the egg—suggest that their individual meanings will unfold over time. 

Upon closer inspection, however, the patterns on each egg differ, and the seeds are depicted growing in varied ways. While the forms resemble one another, these beings—whose destinies may be entirely different—embody multiple potential timelines and interpretations.

Misunderstanding (2025) depicts an egg standing alone in front of a drawing that resembles itself. Through a brown egg that mistakenly identifies itself as the white egg drawn on a sketchbook or notebook, the work humorously reveals how unstable visual self-recognition can be, while also highlighting the confusion between image and reality, and between image and image. 

While narrating a story of representation, the drawing book featuring a full tray of eggs takes the form of a calendar, arranging abstract symbols of identity as images. In this way, the calendar, a tray of eggs, and the age thirty function as dual symbols within the work.

In this way, Eunsi Jo’s work disperses and expands meaning in multiple directions rather than generating a single, unified narrative. Her works are fundamentally based on misperception, guiding the viewer while mixing tension and playfulness to humorously unsettle notions of identity and representation. They function as visual devices that defer interpretive singularity, capturing moments when individuality and difference emerge within the whole and presenting them to the audience. 

The artist’s meticulously structured paintings go beyond mere visual appreciation, assigning viewers the role of both producers and appreciators. This invites active participation in interpretation and raises profound questions about modern identity and the complex social networks to which we belong.

 ”I hope the relationships formed by the images in my work encourage viewers to reflect on their own sense of existence.”  (Eunsi Jo, from the interview with Kiaf SEOUL) 

Eunsi Jo studied Western painting at Ewha Womans University, where she is currently pursuing her master’s degree. Her solo exhibitions include 《At the Edge of Atlas’s Shoulder》 (GalleryMEME, Seoul, 2025), 《TwinFlame》 (YK Presents, Seoul, 2025), and more.
 
She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including 《Paths opening from dead ends》 (Everyday mooonday, Seoul, 2025), 《Perigee Winter Show》 (Perigee Gallery, Seoul, 2024), 《TOUCH AND GO》 (Keep in Touch, Seoul, 2024), 《Nati Liquidi》 (ArtlabBan, Seoul, 2023), 《SSP Gunshop》 (Chamber, Seoul, 2023), and 《Pincer Attack》 (Chamber, Seoul, 2023).  

Eunsi Jo was selected for the ‘Young Artists Art Support Program’ by the Seoul Foundation for Art and Culture (SFAC) in 2025, was featured in ‘ALMANAC: 50 Contemporary Artists in Korea’ by Artifacts (2023), and was also chosen as a semi-finalist for ‘KIAF HIGHLIGHTS’ in 2025.

References

• 조은시, Eunsi Jo (Artist Website)
• 키아프 서울(Kiaf SEOUL), Eunsi Jo | 2025 Kiaf HIGHLIGHTS Semi-Finalists
• 루이즈더우먼, 조은시 (Louise the Women, Eunsi Jo)
• 김다혜, 2024 오픈스튜디오 비평글
• 갤러리밈, [서문] 아틀라스의 어깨 끝 (GalleryMEME, [Preface] At the Edge of Altas’s Shoulder)
• YK Presents, [서문] 트윈플레임 (YK Presents, [Preface] TwinFlame)
• 더프레스1, ‘Kiaf Highlights 작가 10인 선정’ 미술계의 떠오르는 신예, 조은시 개인전, 2025.08.07
• 갤러리밈, 조은시 (GalleryMEME, Eunsi Jo)