Joan Hui Ko, Lead Instructor

Ko (she/her) is a stop motion artist who specializes in fabricating armature puppets and miniature sets from scratch. She utilizes natural materials such as wood, leaves, husk, wool, and clay in her art practice. Joan values the role of material—the most fundamental element of fabrication—in storytelling. To Joan, texture is like a soft-spoken whisper. It is a form of nonverbal language that can only be perceived by touch. Joan not only embraces the tender quality of tactile material, but also amplifies its gentle characteristic through subtle movements when animating. The texture itself, the slight jitter it creates when lightly brushed on the surface frame by frame, quietly yet vitally breathes, vibrates, speaks, and comes to life in Joan’s work.