“It really widens my perspective and gives me the courage to step out of my comfort zone. My art has been scaled up, and I have [gained] the willingness for challenge and risk-taking."
— Bella HyeonJeong Choi, BA Arts, Media and Culture
After four years of studying in TWU’s Film Studies and Art + Design programs, Bella HyeonJeong Choi says that TWU has helped her gain greater courage and confidence as an artist. Bella's work was featured in the SAMC Art + Design Senior Studio exhibition in Spring 2022, On Perception: Day/Night.
“It really widens my perspective and gives me the courage to step out of my comfort zone,” the senior art student says of her program. “My art has been scaled up, and I have [gained] the willingness for challenge and risk-taking."
Along with this courage, studying within TWU’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture (SAMC) has enabled Bella to do a great deal of exploration in various fields of art. By pursuing a double concentration, she was able to take most of the courses she was interested in. “I think this multidisciplinary experience helped me to form my own art,” she said of her experience.
She adds, “Learning new things and expanding my perspective was such a pleasure, and people I met were so welcoming and encouraging. The experience I had here has built up my self-confidence and self-esteem.”
Bella, who is from South Korea, says that she came to TWU to study within a Christian environment. “I think art is highly influenced by one's value and interest more than other fields of study, so I wanted to learn within a context similar to what I have [valued].”
She explains that her work often explores themes like the relationship between humanity and God, and TWU has provided a community that is able to understand and embrace her work.
Based on their shared understanding of faith, Bella’s professors and classmates could provide her with constructive feedback and contribute to further developing her strengths.
“My work tries to make viewers feel the power of invisible elements. By highlighting its power, I guide viewers to be aware of the invisible realm and the spiritual aspects of our lives. And through the theme of life and death, I ask a question about the relationship between God and us.”
In addition to providing an environment that encourages Bella to deepen her faith and make art based on her values, TWU has also helped her to contextualize her practice within the contemporary art scene. “Through the courses [I took], I learned how to approach and understand art, and this enables me to make my artistic decisions with clearer reasons,” she said.
“My work tries to make viewers feel the power of invisible elements. By highlighting its power, I guide viewers to be aware of the invisible realm and the spiritual aspects of our lives,” she shared. “And through the theme of life and death, I ask a question about the relationship between God and us.”
When the ‘finitude of life’ directs ‘attention to eternity’
Among her favourite works is Vanitas, which depicts a pair of baby shoes suspended. “My favorite part about this piece is its presence created by light and the space between the objects,” she said. “Vanitas is a genre of still life that shows the finitude of life and asserts to turn our attention to eternity.”
Her work alludes to the brevity of our days on earth and the constant evolution of our experiences, "I made a pair of baby shoes as a symbol of life. ...Just as we don’t always pay much attention to our shoes, it may suggest the present moments that we don’t pay much attention to and [that have] gone by."
Exploring the ‘space between us’ through filmmaking
Bella is skilled in filmmaking as well. Among her film creations is Negative Space, a poetic documentary film that captures the space between individuals and the space between God and humanity.
“’Nothing is more real than nothing,’” she says, quoting Samuel Beckett. “…The space between us is not 'empty'. He (God) is in there. He is among us all the time. Our relationship lives in the space between us. ...It lives in the space we share together. That space is sacred space."
Bella has also produced several animation works in which she explores various artistic looks and experiments with textures. City of Stars, her first animation work, presents a paper-cut-out style, while Neighbours, her first 3D animation, showcases clay textures, and Dream Guardians features paint textures.
At the Spring 2022 senior art show, Bella is unveiling her new work, Soul, inspired by five Hebrew words that mean “soul.” As she explains. “Through the combination of materialistic painting and non-materialistic light, it talks about the relationship between materialistic body and non-materialistic spirit.”
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.