“The Sinking of the Sewol” by Jackie Wookhee Choo jackiechoo@naver.com This work recalls the horrible April 16, 2014 maritime disaster in which the South Korean ferry “Sewol” cap sized, drowning 302 innocent people. Among the passengers were two hundred and fifty 17-year-old high school students on a field trip to Cheju Island. The tragedy was compounded by the acts of greedy ferry management, an irresponsible crew and no attempt at rescue. To commemorate and comfort the beautiful souls of its victims, I have created this series. While there are many newspaper photos of the disaster, the act of the artist’s hand in painting adds more vivid emotion – compassion, anger, grief and hope—so that perhaps this will never happen again. Inspiration for this series includes Picasso’s Guernica, as well as Korean artist Lee Jung Sup, who painted people with strong color and brush to express their love of life and their dignity as individuals. Although painting is hard work physically and mentally, I enjoy the act of transcending the Self as my concentration breathes life into the art with color and brush. Painting on an empty canvas reveals an unlimited world, while life (and love) is, unfortunately, very limited indeed.

1. “The Sinking of the Sewol”
Jackie Wookhee Choo
jackiechoo@naver.com
This work recalls the horrible April 16, 2014 maritime disaster in which the South Korean ferry
“Sewol” cap sized, drowning 302 innocent people. Among the passengers were two hundred and
fifty 17-year-old high school students on a field trip to Cheju Island. The tragedy was compounded
by the acts of greedy ferry management, an irresponsible crew and no attempt at rescue.
To commemorate and comfort the beautiful souls of its victims, I have created this series. While
there are many newspaper photos of the disaster, the act of the artist’s hand in painting adds more
vivid emotion – compassion, anger, grief and hope—so that perhaps this will never happen again.
Inspiration for this series includes Picasso’s Guernica, as well as Korean artist Lee Jung Sup,
who painted people with strong color and brush to express their love of life and their dignity as
individuals.
Although painting is hard work physically and mentally, I enjoy the act of transcending the Self as my
concentration breathes life into the art with color and brush. Painting on an empty canvas reveals an
unlimited world, while life (and love) is, unfortunately, very limited indeed.

10. detail

12. detail