I work with clay to create abstracted versions of the human form: sculptures that capture the layered nature of human existence. Through my work, I expand, alter, intensify, and ambiguate features so that my sculptures resonate beyond the physical to depict social, emotional, and psychological complexity. I privilege ambiguity in my sculptures to challenge viewers to engage with the art on a deeper level, prompting them to ask questions about themselves and their own interior worlds.
With their forms in shift, the naked figures I craft become borderlines—symbolic thresholds through which to contemplate dichotomies such as nation and citizen, majority and minority, female and male, wealthy and impoverished, future and past. To me, the human form, in its most unadorned state, represents the ultimate frontier of vulnerability and security, a frontline where we confront the essence of our existence.
Working across borders and through uncertainty is crucial to my approach on multiple levels. My first language is Korean, but, living and working in the United States, I now operate primarily in English-speaking contexts. The way language defines and categorizes seems to me a limitation to our understanding of the broader spectrum of the world. Art serves as a more expansive means of comprehending others and ourselves holistically. My art transcends the confines of language, rendering it universally accessible to audiences across and beyond the cultures I navigate.
In abstractions that foster introspection, I propose alternative perspectives on the subtleties of social and interpersonal dynamics. This comes, in part, from reflections of my own narrative, having spent my early adult life repressing my queer identity for years in the face of social stigma. Embracing this facet of my identity was initially daunting, but like the discomfort evoked by ambiguity in my sculptures, it has been a catalyst for creativity. It reaffirms that my artistic inquiry is less about arriving at definitive conclusions and more about fostering a space for exploratory thinking and questioning. My sculptures, therefore, are not just figural forms but the embodiment of inquiries, standing as open dialogues with the viewer, inviting them to find solace in the unknown.
