Lecture at Akureyri Art Museum: Hyo Jung Bea Work - On underwater / Performance / Video / Installation

Jeju Island in Korea, where Hyo Jung Bea lives, is an island area with four distinct seasons. In the Island there are “sea women,” also known as Haenyeo, distinctively all female divers who are tough as nails. Dating all the way back to 434 AD, these women free dive without oxygen tank or nets, and harvest sea life by hand to sustain their livelihood. They represent a unique matriarch society in a male dominant Korean culture. She will introduce underwater performance video works inspired by them.

Hyo Jung Bea (she/her/hers) is a multi-disciplinary artist primarily working in Jeju, South Korea. She performs and utilizes imagery that evokes labor, trauma and confession, while also symbolizing the inner strength, malleability. Bea activates dialogue by reimagining the relationship with her body through sculpture, video and performance. She studied Visual Arts and animation from Seoul National University of Technology, holds a BFA in Studio Arts from CUNY Hunter College, and an MFA in Sculpture from Jeju National University.