Sarah Choo Jing (Chinese: 朱婧; pinyin: Zhū Jìng; born 1990) is a Singaporean multidisciplinary fine artist who works with photography, video and installation. Her works often feature isolated moments in contemporary life and explores the flâneur's observations, voyeurism and the uncanny.[1]
Choo was born in Singapore, the older of two children. Her father works in the freight industry and her mother is an administrative manager.[2] She has one younger brother, Mathias,[2] who is pursuing film-making at Nanyang Technological University.[3]
During her second year in Nanyang Junior College,[2] Choo was offered a full scholarship to read art at Goldsmiths, University of London.[4] However, she had to turn down the offer due to her parents’ disapproval.[4] Choo attended the Nanyang Technological University; School of Art, Design and Media where she graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and Digital Imaging, First Class Honours.[5] Following that, she completed her master's degree in Fine Art Media at the University College London Slade School of Fine Art in 2015.[2]
Choo has done numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout her career. Choo also teaches at the Nanyang Girls’ High School Art Elective Programme.[4]
In 2017, the three-channel video installation The Art of The Rehearsal was commissioned by the National Museum of Singapore and was the first permanent showcase of Gallery10, the museum's then newly opened space.[6] The work was done in collaboration with Shanghai-based commercial cinematographer Jeffrey Ang. The videos depict nine traditional dancers from different cultures rehearsing against a collage of notable ethnic districts in Singapore – Little India, Kampong Glam and Chinatown.[6] Funded by the National Arts Council, the installation cost between S$200,000 and S$250,000 and featured dancers from local dance troupes, namely the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Dance Theatre, Apsaras Art and Era Dance Theatre.[6]
At Personal Structures, an exhibition organised by the European Cultural Centre and held at the Palazzo Bembo as a fringe programme of the 57th Venice Biennale, Choo presented another version of The Art of The Rehearsal.[7][8] As the Venice exhibition space was approximately ten times smaller than in the National Museum of Singapore, Choo modified the installation such that viewers could go up close to the dancing figures, creating a sense that they were miniature models of a larger work.[3]
In January 2014, Choo won the 4th Edition of the ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu – a S$30,000 award that acknowledges exceptional photographers in Singapore, launched by Martell.[18] Choo was also awarded the Highly Commended Award in the 2007 United Overseas Bank Painting of the Year Competition.[18]