Mina Cheon (born 1973) is a

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

new media artist, scholar, and educator. Since 1997, she has been living between Baltimore, New York, and Seoul.

Personal life and education

Cheon was born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. Being the daughter of a South Korean diplomat and cultural attache, she grew up in the cities of Seoul, New York, Copenhagen, and Ottawa. She received a BFA in painting from

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest f ...

in Seoul, an MFA in painting from Hoffberger School of Painting,

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...

(MICA), an MFA in imaging digital arts from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). and a PhD in philosophy of media and communications from the

European Graduate School The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta. History It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, ...

, European University for Interdisciplinary Studies, Switzerland in 2008. She is currently on the faculty of Maryland Institute College of Art. She is married to architect Gabriel Kroiz. After marrying, Cheon converted to Judaism. They have two children.

Teaching

One of Cheon's educational contributions has been the international art program and exchange that she has led with architect, Gabriel Kroiz, and between American and Korean art, architecture, and design students. She has directed international art education since 2004, working with universities in Seoul such as

Hongik University Hongik University (; colloquially as Hongdae) is a private university in Mapo District, Mapo, Seoul, South Korea. It was founded in 1946. The university also maintains a branch campus in Sejong City. The university's colloquial name, "Hongdae ...

Korea National University of Arts Korea National University of Arts () is a national university in Seoul, South Korea. Korea National University of Arts was established in 1993 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the only national university of arts with an aim to ...

, and with

in 2010, taking students from

(MICA) and

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

to South Korea. Cheon expanded her teaching horizons from just art to teaching in the departments of Foundation; Art History; Language, Literature, and Culture; and Interactive Media. She was also the founder and director of the summer study abroad program MICA Korea that was held each summer in Seoul, Korea between 2004 and 2007.

Exhibitions

Cheon's solo exhibitions include: *"Happy North Korean Children" at Trunk Gallery, Seoul *"Choco-Pie Propaganda" at Ethan Cohen New York Gallery *"POLIPOP: Political Pop Art" at Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea (2012) includes painting,

new media art New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of new media, electronic media technologies. It comprises virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robo ...

interactive media Interactive media refers to digital experiences that dynamically respond to user input, delivering content such as Text (literary theory), text, images, animations, video, Sound, audio, and even Artificial intelligence, AI-driven interactions. O ...

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific art, site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior intervent ...

, and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

work. *"Polipop and Paintings" at the Maryland Art Place Baltimore, Maryland *"Groundless" at Lance Fung Gallery, New York, (2002) *"Dizz/placement" at Insa Art Space, Art Council, Seoul, Korea *"Addressing Dolls" at C.Grimalids Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland (named as "Best Solo Exhibition" by ''City Paper'') Diamonds Light Baltimore is a collaborative project built by Mina Cheon and Gabriel Kroiz composed of fifteen unique diamond shaped sculptures of different shapes and sizes. These sculptures are large enough for the audience to walk inside and through it. The diamond sculptures are made of LED lights to highlight the unique shape of the object. On February 23, 2012, "Magic and Media," a New Media Caucus-sponsored panel, was held at the College Art Association 100th Annual Conference in Los Angeles. Cheon chaired the panel with Lisa Paul Streitfeld. The panel focused on the age of new media culture like reality TV shows, horror flicks, the re-creations of religious cults, online spiritual healing, and pop-star worship. On June 30, 2021, Cheon held an artist talk with The Korean Society in New York City, where she had an exhibition of her art intended to demonstrate the unification and peace that both Koreas are seeking. As a global activism artist, Cheon’s projects to unite both Koreas include making a pair of sneakers where the flag of North Korea is drawn on one shoe, and on the other, the flag of South Korea is drawn. Her statement for this is that you need two feet to move forward; therefore, Koreans can’t move forward without leaving the other country behind.

Writing

Books

*''Shamanism + Cyberspace'' (2009) Atropos Press, New York and Dresden) *''Combat: Sports and Military'' (2010) Co-authored with G Kroiz, Culture Bank Publishing, Seoul, South Korea

Articles

*"The Konglish Critique" in ''Beyond Critique'' (2013), co-authored with G Kroiz, edited by Susan Waters-Eller and Joseph J. Basile. Maisonneuve Press, College Park, MD ) *"Magic and Media" in ''Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus'' (2012) Media-N, NMC, USA; ) - Cheon's chaired panel Her current artistic research involves delving into racism in published visual arts encompassing Asian nations that are found in images and popular culture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheon, Mina 1973 births Living people Artists from Baltimore Artists from New York City Artists from Seoul South Korean contemporary artists South Korean educators South Korean emigrants to the United States 21st-century South Korean women artists 20th-century South Korean educators Maryland Institute College of Art alumni Ewha Womans University alumni European Graduate School alumni University of Maryland, Baltimore County alumni Maryland Institute College of Art faculty South Korean expatriates in Switzerland American expatriates in Switzerland South Korean women educators 20th-century South Korean women artists