Hannah Woo
Hannah Woo, Pajama Party, mixed media installation, 2020
Pajama Party reflects Hannah Woo’s interest in upending narratives, as a way of guiding a story. The specific stories that make up Woo’s installation consist of characters including the mythological figure of Dionysus, pedestrians Woo has observed on her way home, and her personal dreamt up beings - all figures that she artistically realizes in different ways. While one approach has been to shape the characters directly, Woo also created the spaces left behind after the characters have departed, leaving the viewer to infer their prior presence.
In her work, Woo typically takes advantage of the flexibility and elasticity of fabric, while utilizing steel as a contrasting, supplementary material to support and enhance those qualities. The shirring, draping, and ribbons that can be achieved with fabric are present throughout the installation, serving both as a decorative element and as Woo’s own visual language.
Pajama Party is in part dedicated to anonymous characters who exist experiencing a range of emotions, both angry and happy. Woo imagines Pajama Party to be the aftermath of a party scene in which Woo’s anonymous characters have fled for an unexplained, yet urgent reasons.
Hannah Woo is a Korean artist who grew up in Daejeon and now is based in Seoul, South Korea. She completed her BFA and MFA at the Korea National University of Arts. Her recent solo show, Moulage Mélancolique, was shown at P.S. Sarubia, Seoul in 2019. Her large, fabric-based installations have been presented at institutions including the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art, Blume Museum, the Asia Culture Center, Amado Art Space, and Art Space Pool, amongst others.