Heeyoung Noh's Paintings Explore Trauma and Identity Through Korean Ritual
The artwork The face (2023) by Heeyoung Noh features a woman without facial features in a shower, showcasing her glistening skin and droplets of water, evoking a strong sense of humidity and isolation. Noh often incorporates ttaemiri, a traditional Korean bathing practice, to explore psychological burdens such as matrilineal sorrow and the disconnection felt during immigration. Born in Incheon, South Korea, in 1995, she relocated to Scotland to study at the Glasgow School of Art, where she faced her identity as an Asian woman while dealing with racial microaggressions and cultural confusion. In her 2024 piece Bitches, a nude woman is curled up on a bed with a black dog, reminiscent of Johann Heinrich Füssli's 1781 work The Nightmare, yet her gaze remains unsettlingly direct. Noh's art presents simple yet eerie representations of the female figure as a medium for unexpressed and inherited trauma, often mirroring her emotional struggles abroad.
Key facts
- Heeyoung Noh was born in 1995 in Incheon, South Korea.
- She moved to Scotland to attend the Glasgow School of Art.
- Her painting The face was created in 2023.
- Noh's work draws on ttaemiri, a Korean bathing ritual.
- Bitches (2024) references Johann Heinrich Füssli's 1781 painting The Nightmare.
- Her paintings examine psychosomatic burdens like matrilineal grief and immigration alienation.
- Noh grappled with racial microaggressions and cultural disorientation in Scotland.
- The face depicts a faceless woman in a shower with glistening skin.
Entities
Artists
- Heeyoung Noh
- Johann Heinrich Füssli
Institutions
- Glasgow School of Art
Locations
- Incheon
- South Korea
- Scotland