The Itaewon Tragedy 2022
2023
31 * 21.5
mixed media
On 29 October 2022, a disastrous incident occurred in Itaewon, one of Seoul's bustling districts. 159 people lost their lives by being crushed to death in a narrow alley. On that day, many young individuals had come to this district to enjoy Halloween. This area is one of the older parts of the city, with numerous narrow alleys, and on festival or event days, there would typically be police guiding the traffic to ensure a smooth, safe flow. However, on this day, there was no police presence at all. According to governmental records, the need for policing was raised several times in district office meetings, but it was consistently ignored.
Even a year after the incident, there has been no national mourning for the deceased. Social mourning was prohibited at the governmental level. Despite it being clearly the fault of the authorities, neither the President, the Minister of Public Administration and Security, nor the relevant local district mayor has offered an apology or been punished. People are demanding a thorough investigation, but an investigation has still not been properly conducted.
At the time of the incident, many people were deeply saddened. I, too, felt depressed for over a week. Whoever was to blame, death is a sorrowful event, and this incident was a true tragedy. Through art, I wanted to express, even in a small way, my condolences and mourning for those young people’s deaths.
International Women's Day
2023
23.9 * 28.4
watercolor on canvas
Women's issues are truly important to me. When I was drawing this picture, my attitude was even more passionate and sincere than usual. There were times when I was creating this piece that tears came to my eyes, because I felt I had insufficient skill to paint what I could see in my mind. Through this artwork, I wanted to express the fact that feminists have contributed significantly to the slow but positive change in the status of women. Feminists are widely loathed in Korean society, but still they strive for change. I wanted to convey through my art my solidarity with my fellow feminists in Korea.
This drawing represents the International Women’s Day event held in Seoul in 2023. The event took place in front of Seoul City Hall, and afterward, many people holding flags marched to Gwanghwamun, an economically and politically significant street in Seoul that I drew in another painting. This drawing is about the people at the front of the line, waiting for the march to begin.
This artwork actively utilizes three strategies. Firstly, through the signboards of women-oriented markets, I explore the gender discriminatory structure that cannot be fully shown by the march alone. There are so many industries, institutions, areas of medicine and social sectors that have a bearing on women’s position in society. I selected signboards advertising cosmetic surgery, study abroad agencies, marriage bureaus, skincare clinics, jobs for caregivers, exam preparation agencies for teachers, the sex industry, obstetrics and gynecology, and so on. All of these are directly connected to women's desires and strategies, as well as their experience of oppression and exploitation within the present social structure. The signboards’ distribution along the city skyline may appear casual, but I chose them and their positioning strategically. Additionally, I allude to the gender discriminatory social structure through the city's electronic billboard news, which is reporting on the Global Gender Gap and the disproportionately high suicide rate among young Korean women.
Secondly, I aimed to depict the diversity of women participating in the march. They are all unique individuals with different personalities. However, social minorities are often lumped together and objectified, which makes it easy to hate or ignore them, thereby disrespecting their humanity. In resistance to this, I depicted them as distinct individuals with various characteristics. By painting in this way, I declare that they are human beings, or huwoman beings.
Lastly, through the child in the foreground of the painting, I wanted to reveal my hopes and responsibilities, and those of other feminists, regarding gender equality. The princess-style dress she is wearing symbolizes socially constructed femininity, which she has been dealing with since birth. I hope that even people who are indifferent to gender equality will think about it when looking at this child.
Beauty Complex Game
2024
20 * 30
mixed media
As the call for gender equality grows stronger around the world, so does the technology that governs young women in the realms of academic achievement, economic activity, and appearance. With the Beauty Complex board game, I wanted to critique reinforced social norms and the surveillance of young, healthy, glamorous female bodies and appearances. Players acquire masks by spending money on beauty aesthetics, exercise, Botox injections, etc; the winner is the player with the most masks. However, by defeating a villain with a high throw of the die, participants can change the rules of the game so that the winner becomes the player with the *fewest* masks. By giving players the autonomy to change the rules of the game, I wanted to capture the revolutionary idea that women (players) can establish their own beauty standards and systems.
I have had a consultation with a professor who teaches board games, but I am still in the early stages of creating the rules of mine. I plan to develop them next year, to which end I plan to participate in a board game class and research a range of different games.
I studied the poses of actual female models in order to draw the women on the board. These poses make them look ‘pretty' and ‘sexy', but at the same time, they are difficult for them to do and sometimes hurt their bodies. I have rarely seen male models in those poses. The triangular board model was chosen to critique ‘appearanceism’ and (female) meritocracy based on looks. To make the game accessible to players from all over the world, I borrowed images of masks from different cultures, and the design of the money was taken from the internet.
LuxeDemon and Lois Elf-esteem
2024
11.7 * 16.5
mixed media
The game's three villains each represent capitalism, “appearance meritocracy,” and Westernized standards of beauty as perpetuated by the media. This particular image is that of a monster called the LuxeDemon, who symbolizes the capitalist system that profits from the huge, global beauty industry. The LuxeDemon's messenger is the Snow White Witch, who symbolizes the social apparatus that makes women feel constantly deficient and insecure about their appearance and age (her name is Lois Elf-Esteem). South Korea, where I grew up, is notorious for a beauty industry in which plastic surgery is normalised and women’s bodies are routinely controlled and manipulated. On a daily basis, young women face comparison and criticism based on their appearance.
The second villain is Tyrant Banks, who is based on Tylar Banks, the host and judge of the television show “America's Next Top Model”, which has helped to normalize body dysmorphia and appearance competition around the world. Her messenger is Zeus (Patriarcho) from Greek mythology. The third villain is Venus (Skinny White Venus), who represents the Western standard of beauty. She has messengers based on Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, who were responsible (from a sociological perspective) for the global propagation of Westernized beauty standards through the media. Those messengers are Marilyn BoomRoe and Audrey HepBoom, both of whom are carrying bombs in the painting.
Summer Holidays on Jeju Island
2023
30 * 20
watercolor on paper
This island is the most popular tourist destination in Korea, where I go plogging (picking up litters) to clean and protect the beautiful sea since the covid-19. However, although it is very beautiful, it has a history of political tension and tragedy. For example, it was the site of the Jeju Uprising in 1948, in which around 30,000 people died in a conflict with Korean and U.S. military forces. In the Uprising, residents on the island also fought and killed each other. The Korean government apologized for this terrible incident in 2005, only after 57 years, since when the island has become a symbol of peace and reconciliation. However, conflict and disputation continue, centered on the naval base that was constructed there in 2016, resulting in the conflicts among residents and the destruction of great swathes of the countryside. There are also plans to build an airport that many people believe will be used for Korean and U.S. military purposes, because of the island’s proximity to China.
I wanted to show the contrast between peaceful holidays on a beautiful island and the ever-present threat of military violence.
Sharing water (one painting in a series of 5 )
2023
31 * 21.5
watercolor on paper
This painting is a part of the Sharing Water series below, which consists of the 5 pieces.
Sharing Water (entire series)
2023
watercolor on paper
We coexist with other beings on Earth, but we often forget and live as if this fact doesn't matter. Through this artwork, I wanted to visually demonstrate that humans and non-humans share the Earth and its water, and that we influence each other. When composing the painting, I wanted to distinguish between different ecosystems, so I used a different piece of paper for each. I was very precise in lining up the edges of the paper, in order to show the perfect flow of water across the Earth.
I painted this piece in the early summer 2023, when I was going through a somewhat melancholic period. I drew inspiration from the bathroom of my art teacher's house. Unlike bathrooms in other houses, hers is very large, and the subtle light coming through the translucent window creates a mysterious atmosphere. Being in that bathroom makes me feel connected to somewhere else, even though I am locked in there alone. One day, when I was cleaning a palette in there, I thought: “If I am connected to some other place, or some other thing, where is that place, what are those things, and how are we connected?”. This curiosity led me to create this painting.
As with some other paintings, I tried to depict as many animals as possible, referencing the inspiring Our Planet documentary. However, upon reflection, I realized that I had unintentionally portrayed those animals in a typical manner often represented in the media.
I plan to add a desert to complete this painting. In the next painting, I aim to illustrate a polluted and contaminated Earth by including sources of water pollution such as factories and nuclear power plants. In future works, in order to depict animals accurately, I intend to consult not only media but also the research of zoologists and those who have cared for animals for a long time.
Sharing Water (one painting in a series of 5 )
2023
31 * 21.5
watercolor on paper
Dangerous Blossoming
2024
16.5 * 11.7
mixed media
In South Korea, spring flowers bloom in the following order throughout March and April: plum blossom; mountain milkweed; magnolia; forsythia; azalea; and cherry blossom. However, in the spring of 2023, they bloomed and faded at the same time, causing many people to be surprised and anxious. Various environmental indicators in 2023 and 2024 suggested that the equilibrium of the global ecosystem is about to be disrupted by rising temperatures. I personally witnessed this distressing phenomenon and felt it very deeply. Flowers, which are hyper sensitive to weather and climate, began to get confused. Although it was very beautiful, I felt that it was a very scary and dangerous situation, and I wanted to document it. On the back of the painting, I symbolically drew the five major sources of carbon emissions: factories, electricity production, buildings, transportation, and agriculture. I drew a person practicing Japanese kendo, which emphasizes the importance of discipline and meditation, to represent humanity’s struggle against the climate crisis. (I do Japanese kendo myself). Methodologically, I had been doing pencil drawings, but on the recommendation of my advisor, I used colored pencils, which were appropriate to express the various flowers beautifully. My pencil drawings are extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming, but through this work, I learned new ways to reduce the effort without sacrificing the quality of the results.
Sleepy Seoul in Autumn
2023
19* 24.6
watercolor on paper
In this painting, what I focused on most was making the trash appear as if it were a major feature of the beautiful cityscape.
At first glance, this picture may seem like a simple autumn scene with colorful leaves, but in reality, it is about a pile of garbage. On closer inspection, the white river waves turn out to be dead fish, and the apartment windows contain garbage bags. The autumn sky is, in fact, fine dust, and the installations in the mountains are the wastewater storage facilities of a nuclear power plant. Through this series of realizations, I hope the viewer will gain an awareness that the consumer goods proudly displayed in shopping malls and the trash hidden away at dumps are essentially the same. I would like them to contemplate Seoul’s severe garbage problem as well as their own consumption patterns.
Wake Up
2024
5.9 * 5.9
silkscreen print
I created this as propaganda, a call to immediate action against the climate crisis. I chose silk screen methodology so that I could produce pamphlets, placards, and t-shirts which could be used in campaigns to support the climate crisis movement.
The climate crisis is caused by fossil capitalism, which poses a major threat to human survival. I wanted to make people aware of the urgent need to reflect on a lifestyle and value system that pursues only growth and economic profit. I also wanted to communicate the idea that the climate crisis is an immediate threat to the survival of humanity, not just the bears and other animals that often feature in climate crisis narratives. Most of all, rather than adopting a negative strategy, I tried to convey a message of optimism and hope that the climate crisis is not an unsolvable problem.
As for the placard, it consists of 190 copies of the original piece, 79 printed in the original colors for the letters, and 111 in two-tone yellow and black for the background. It reads "WAKE UP” from a distance. In addition, I printed the image on used T-shirts to promote the message, and also to sell in order to raise funds.
