After a three-month residence at Vietnam’s New Space Art Foundation (NSAF), South Korean visual artist Jea Young Choi is looking to exhibit his artwork in central Hue city from July 12 to 22.

The exhibit, called “Paradox of the Gap”, and to be held at 15 Le Loi Street, will feature 67 of Jae’s works, most of which were the result of his experiences and creation process in Hue from April to July this year.

His artwork indicates his creativity and flexibility, as well as his concerns when approaching several social issues of his interest. Through his art, distance between individuals and individuals and the community can be sensed, manifest in omnipresent, unbridgeable gaps between the rich and the poor, expensive versus cheap means of transport, and material versus spiritual needs.

Jea’s works come in a wide variety of materials, including oil, acrylic, lacquer, iron pen and water color; and styles, ranging from realism, pop art and symbolism to mere drawings, which are mostly youthful and ironic.

When he first arrived in Hue, Jea was instantly bewitched by lacquer, which he spent a lot of time studying. He finally came up with several works using this material.

Born in Seoul in 1987, after graduating from the Korean National University of Education, Jea traveled to Vietnam in an artist residence exchange program between the NSAF and Korea’s Hive Camp Art Studio.