Janice Yang: 20 Years of Hardship Become the Core of Her Surrealist Painting Practice
Janice Yang, an artist with roots in South Korea, recently reflected on how two decades at her family's Japanese restaurant in Oregon influenced her work. Born in Connecticut while her father pursued a PhD, Yang’s family relocated to the U.S. following her father's job loss. She attended an art-focused high school and later the Art Center College of Design but had to interrupt her studies for family obligations. After earning a BFA in Portland, her art explores Korean heritage through motifs like salmon and Chaekgado. Currently, she's undertaking a residency in Johannesburg and participating in the FNB Art Joburg fair.
Key facts
- Janice Yang spent 20 years working in her family's Japanese restaurant, which delayed her art career.
- She dropped out of the Art Center College of Design twice and took 15 years to earn her BFA in Portland, Oregon.
- Yang was born in Connecticut while her father studied for a PhD on a scholarship, and her family later moved from South Korea to the United States.
- Her paintings combine Korean symbolic motifs with surrealistic oil-and-acrylic techniques learned in the U.S.
- The salmon is a recurring symbol in her work, representing both the search for home and her time in the family kitchen.
- She currently holds a residency at Gallery MOMO in Johannesburg, awarded by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Yang is showing work at the FNB Art Joburg fair through Gallery MOMO.
- Her experience as a high school art teacher inspired her to paint portraits of immigrant students and return to her own practice.
Entities
Artists
- Janice Yang
- Ahn Gyeon
Institutions
- My Modern Met
- Art Center College of Design
- Gallery MOMO
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- FNB Art Joburg
- Lillstreet Art Center
Locations
- South Korea
- United States
- Connecticut
- Oregon
- Seoul
- Portland
- Johannesburg
- South Africa
- Chicago
- Japan