Korean American artist Nicholas Oh focuses on creating objects and installations that deal with race and identity. He provokes and challenges the audience to question their own ideas about past and current social issues of America.
By creating and destroying clay replicas of Confederate statues, the artist explores changes in the statue’s meaning through time and history. While many believe these statues were built to commemorate fallen soldiers during the Civil War, he looks deeper into their role in oppression and terror. The artist’s ideas start by looking back on his own history and background (Oh was born in Wisconsin, but spent his early childhood in Korea).
Nicholas Oh graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with his MFA in 2018. He has done residencies at Pioneer Works, New York, Shigaraki Cultural Park, Japan and Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Colorado. He has shown at Spring/Break Art Show in New York, Mills College Art Museum in California, Milwaukee Art Institute in Wisconsin, American Museum of Ceramic Art and Pence Gallery in California.
By creating and destroying clay replicas of Confederate statues, the artist explores changes in the statue’s meaning through time and history. While many believe these statues were built to commemorate fallen soldiers during the Civil War, he looks deeper into their role in oppression and terror. The artist’s ideas start by looking back on his own history and background (Oh was born in Wisconsin, but spent his early childhood in Korea).
Nicholas Oh graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with his MFA in 2018. He has done residencies at Pioneer Works, New York, Shigaraki Cultural Park, Japan and Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Colorado. He has shown at Spring/Break Art Show in New York, Mills College Art Museum in California, Milwaukee Art Institute in Wisconsin, American Museum of Ceramic Art and Pence Gallery in California.