Artist Statement

Humans as social animals and the societies that they inhabit are the main sources of motivation in my art.  I draw from the human circumstances that flourish between reality and perception. Born and raised in the Korean myth culture and adopting Buddhist philosophy, I assume that the world we are living in is not real but is an illusion that we perceive. I doubt that there is anything like truth in a concrete sense.
 
When we regard the physical manifestations of the world as true, they can be seductive because we see and feel them.  I see these “facts” as illusions. We are set and programmed to see certain images rather than the real. Therefore, I am creating my own reality within this context. My images are my way of seeing reality in this human world without pretense. I choose to depict our society through metaphor and satire. 
 
Drawing from this philosophical background, my work focuses on human in our contemporary consumerist society.  The lifestyle and thinking processes of humans are often ruled by money and capitalism. Society encourages us to foster goals to become richer so that we can consume even more. Consumption driven by endless desire triggers identity crises. Trying to fit into this consumer culture makes individuals lose the sense of their own identities and personalities.  
 
I use half animal and half human figures in my work.  These hybrid creatures represent a portrait of us, humans as social animals in the society that we live in. These creature hybrids express the absurdity of the human world.  They portray ironic gestures that create a mixture of humor and grotesqueness, reflecting life in our consumerist society.  The creatures are symbolic of the consumerist ideal of humans who are dimwitted and un-knowing, or who choose not to see anything beyond the ‘facts’ that they are taught.
 
My work consists of multiple types of print media, and incorporates other media to reference mass consumer culture, including plastic boxes, vinyl sheets, and paper bags. These products symbolize our micromanaged and controlled nature of consumerist culture.