English
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Filipino
Hindi
Persian
Portuguese
Punjabi
Russian
Spanish
Urdu
Vietnamese
Joo Chase
About Joo Chase
Joo Chase is a Korean-American visual artist and art educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work explores the intersections of memory, nature, cultural identity, and the experience of living between Korea and the United States.
Born and raised in Korea, Joo draws inspiration from childhood memories, Korean landscapes, and traditional visual culture. Since moving to the United States in 2014, she has developed an artistic practice that bridges her Korean heritage with contemporary American life, reflecting on cultural connection, personal transformation, and belonging.
Working across oil, acrylic, watercolor, traditional Korean ink, and mixed media, Joo creates portraits, abstract paintings, and nature-inspired works. Her practice combines expressive mark-making, layered textures, and Eastern and Western artistic approaches to reinterpret cultural traditions through a contemporary lens.
Joo continued her fine arts education at Diablo Valley College (DVC), where she completed the requirements for an Associate Degree in Art and earned certificates in Drawing and Painting. She also holds an MBA and previously studied digital arts at a university in Korea.
Before focusing more fully on fine art, Joo spent five years as a character designer in the game industry and ten years managing creative projects and digital marketing initiatives. This background informs her approach to visual storytelling, composition, and creative problem-solving.
As an art educato ... view more »
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Category: Instructor; Mixed Media; Painter; Visual Artist
Medium: Acrylic; Mixed Media; Oil; Pen/Ink; Watercolor
Artist Statement
Please provide a brief description of your creative process, motivations, and inspirations:
Artist Statement – Joo Chase
My art exists at the intersection of two worlds — the quiet beauty of Korean traditions and the dynamic, ever-changing landscape of contemporary America. Through painting, photography, and mixed media, I explore the relationship between memory and the present, between what is preserved and what continues to transform.
Born and raised in Korea and now based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I view art as a way of carrying memories, emotions, and cultural connections across time and place. Influenced by Korea’s natural landscapes, traditional Korean ink painting (수묵화), and the experiences of migration and adaptation, my work reflects a journey of finding belonging while embracing change.
Through expressive brushstrokes, layered textures, and the interplay of ink, color, and light, I seek to capture the quiet strength found in nature and the emotions held within personal memories. Whether working with Korean ink, watercolor, acrylic, oil, or photography, I am drawn to moments of stillness, transformation, and the subtle beauty found in silence, shadow, and light.
Each artwork is a reflection on identity, connection, and the passage of time. I invite viewers to pause and discover their own memories and stories within the spaces between tradition and contemporary life.
