c.ryu.portal@gmail.com

About

C. is pronounced See | Sea | 시.

C. Ryu (formerly known as Caroline Yoo) is an interdisciplinary artist who also responds to the titles of bad historian, spiral storyteller, and avid ghosts believer.

Ryu uses translation as a tool to map forgotten histories – to reveal psychological shadows haunting | hunting the Korean diaspora – and performs contemporary translations of rituals for the living. Tracing the edges of the hidden and silenced perspectives of the past to inform the personal and political of the present, C. visualizes narratives utilizing multiple voices in tension with each other to highlight the complicated structures of empire and power while unraveling imperial illusions through geopolitical poetry.

Ryu was born and raised in the United States to Korean immigrants.Ryu moved a total of 8 times over the first 18 years of life. Through place and relocation, C. was reborn 8 times. Infatuated with movement, memory, and migration, Ryu’s practice spans across mediums of performance, social practice, intimate gatherings, and video installations often conflating documentary and science fiction to showcase the warped nature of emotional time in migration storytelling.

C. Ryu is a co-founder and co-leader of Hwa Records, JADED (named 2022 People of the Year by the Pittsburgh City Paper), and Han Diaspora Group. These artist collectives focus on different aspects of the Asian diaspora experience. Searching for radical existence, Ryu especially places importance on envisioning safe spaces and alternative learning models that allows her communities to dream wild, process unheard traumas, or plant grounds for new futures.

Ryu has performed, exhibited, and culturally produced at Carnegie Museum of Art; Institute of Contemporary Art, San Francisco; McDonough Museum of Art; University of Southern California; LA Art Show; Kelly Strayhorn Theater; and more.

Ryu graduated Carnegie Mellon University with a MFA in Art and Washington University in St. Louis with a BFA in Studio Art. They have taught as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Carlow University instructing courses such as Digitally Mediated Performance, Digital Photography, Introduction to Digital Art & Media, and Introduction to New Media. She is currently based in Southern California and is in the midst of producing their next performance spectacle reimagining forgotten Korean goddess mythology and demonology that will debut in Pittsburgh, PA - August 30, 2025.