Jessica Wee

My work explores ideas of cultural hybridity, belonging and the evolving concept of home, drawing on family history, Korean myth and popular culture, and European Classical and Surrealist painting—art forms that I was exposed to growing up in a Korean family moving between the United States, France, and Canada. My practice is rooted in oil painting, which I now challenge by incorporating new techniques including 3D modeling and mapping, collage, and layering of printed images, as well as by contrasting traditional canvas with textures such as Korean mulberry paper.

I aim to explore the nuances and contradictions of hybrid cultural identities, presenting alter-egos of myself and women close to me and allowing these characters to exist and shape-shift in surreal alternate worlds where past, present and future are bridged in non-linear and dream-like ways. These spaces also become sites for personal reflection and investigation into cultural symbols of my Korean heritage as well as those of classical Europe.

Jessica Wee (she/her) is a Korean American Canadian artist who grew up in Paris and Montreal. She earned her BFA in Studio Art at Concordia University, Montreal (2011) and completed a Diploma in Classical Realist oil painting at Angel Academy, Florence (2017). She has held solo exhibitions at Steve Turner Gallery, L.A. (2023); Latitude Gallery, New York (2022); Spring Break, New York (2022), and the Maison de la Culture NDG, Montreal (2024). In 2023, she participated in the Vermont Studio Center Residency program. Her work has been featured by Artforum, Artnet, Hyperallergic, and La Presse, presented by Artsy on the New York City subway, and appeared in the Comedy Central TV show Nora from Queens. Between 2019 and 2021 she acted as the head assistant painter for contemporary artist Angel Otero in New York. She currently lives and works in Montreal.

Instagram @yessica_oui

Jessica Wee. Déjeuner sur l’herbe, 2023. Oil on linen. 30 x 30 inches.

Jessica Wee. Ysabelle, 2022. Oil on canvas. 30 x 36 inches.

Jessica Wee. Le passage, 2023. Inkjet print on mulberry paper, oil and acrylic paint on wood panel. 24 x 24 inches