Shaped in a bi-cultural environment and interrogating the notion of perception’s equivalence to reality, I explore the effect of cultural and societal tendencies placed on built spaces and our understanding of the natural landscape. I am fascinated with the fluid definitions of boundaries, deception, contradiction, truth, and alternate truths.My continuing works, "Fallout" (began 2023), "Fortified...Super" drawing series (began 2024), "Red Crowned Crane" AKA "Accidental Paradise" series (began 2025), represent situations that are often veiled and complicated and refer explicitly to the consequences of fervently believing in the absoluteness of borders.
The fake fence logs are caught in the ambiguous act to contradict the firm demarcations of boundaries and point to the 2008 incident of a fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist for unknowingly crossing into the unmarked restricted area in North Korea’s Diamond Mountains. This event precipitously deteriorated North and South Korea’s relationship, extending through the present time with North Korea’s provocative missile launchings over and into the East Sea next to the Korean peninsula. Furthermore, drawings depict the psychological warfare at the border of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) while spotlighting the irony of the ecological revival of an undisturbed landscape at the DMZ that represents the “still at war” border between North and South Korea.
Arbitrary demarcations and boundaries with land and properties embolden notions of ownership, fueling the desire to protect or take. Intense global geopolitical issues are creating conflicts and tension among nations and people. I grapple with clarifying my stance as society struggles with racial, social, and economic inequality and ecological entropy. My approach to landscape is a symbolic or perhaps an escapist’s representation of these complex issues.
Jason S. Yi is an interdisciplinary artist working in photography, video, sculpture, drawing, and site-specific installation. His practice, shaped through a bi-cultural perspective, explores the fragility and complexity of perception.
Yi has exhibited nationally and internationally, with a recent exhibition in Vienna, Austria, and an upcoming exhibition at the Haggerty Museum of Art. His honors include a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship, two Mary L. Nohl Artist Fellowships, the Milwaukee Artist of theYear award, and the Kamiyama Artist-in-Residence Fellowship, supported by the Japan Foundation. His work is held in the permanent collections of theMilwaukee Art Museum, the Museum of Wisconsin Art, the Kamiyama Museum of Art in Japan, the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Dennos Museum Center in Michigan, and the Edward F. Albee Foundation in New York.
He is the co-founder of Plum Blossom Initiative, which oversees the Bridge Work professional development program. Yi also serves as a professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and directs Hawthorn Contemporary gallery. He lives and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship
Mary L. Nohl Artist Fellowship
Milwaukee Artist of the Year
Kamiyama Artist in Residence Fellowship by Japan Foundation
