BIO

Misuk P. Weaver observes and investigates the strategies of being, in herself, in the materials, and the impacts of profit-driven systems, and translates them into three-dimensional multi-media artworks. A first-generation Korean immigrant laboring to remove the ingrained restraints of cultural gender roles and informed by the experience of poverty during her formative years, Misuk uses capitalistic greed and inequality as subject matter to bring context to, educate, and challenge perceptions. 

The artworks gravitate towards materials that have been discarded and the results are often temporal. Elevating the essence of found materials as an opportunity for conversation, the artist integrates formal techniques to transform and generate new vernacular and perceptions. Through the metamorphosis Misuk endeavors to validate the object’s existence and narrate the journey of the found material.  


Misuk earned a B.A. and M.B.A and is a licensed art educator who champions the power of education and mentorship.

STATEMENT

As a child I was always instructed to stay quiet in the background and have “nunchi” (roughly translates from Korean to "eye-measure"), constantly searching for context and evaluating the overall atmosphere, placing little value on my own existence. This honed my observational skills, noticing every detail and mood, setting the foundation for expression through visual storytelling.


My artwork gravitates towards three-dimensional multi-media temporal works that explore human being's relationship with the environment and how that relationship becomes impacted by our desire to consume and control. Discarded, found, or upcycled materials and ceramics are primary sources of media to challenge perceptions and address themes of scarcity, culture, climate, and gender informed by my identity as a first-generation Korean-American immigrant. Through the act of creating visual artworks, I exercise my voice and work to generate dialogue.  

EXHIBITIONS

2023 Watermark Art Center, 18th Annual "It's Only Clay" National Competition and Exhibit (Bemidji, MN) - To the Point, Whole Fruit, Emerge

2022 Old Stone House Museum (Brownington, VT) - Assembly Quilt, Large-scale Earthwork Installation 

2021 Catamount Arts Juried Show (Saint Johnsbury, VT) - Temp Control, Honorable Mention

AWARDS

2022 Diane Gabriel Visual Artist Award (Burlington City Arts, Burlington, VT)

GRANT AWARDS

2023 Vermont Arts Council Development Grant  to support attending a Gee's Bend quilting technique workshop with fifth generation quilters in Alabama

2022 Vermont Arts Council Development Grant to support the costs of a large-scale earthwork titled "The Assembly Quilt" 

HONORS

2023 Vermont Arts Council Artist Development Grant Review Team

2023 BTV Market Juror (Burlington, VT)

TEACHING ARTIST RESIDENCIES / WORKSHOPS

2023 Essex High School, Essex, VT (April)

2022 Lake Region Union High School, Orleans, VT (April)

2022 Brownington Central School, Brownington, VT (April)

EDUCATION, LICENSES, AND CERTIFICATIONS

2018 Vermont Agency of Education Professional Educator License, Endorsement 9 -02 (Art, Grades 5-12)

2008 Felician University, M.B.A. Entrepreneurship and Innovation 

2004 Rutgers University (Honors College), B.A. Psychology and Graphic Design