(2014- 2022)
As a child growing up in Seoul, Korea, my parents didn’t let me play with dolls. I was in love with the doll-like blonde hair Japanese characters I saw on TV but never had the plastic toys that all my schoolmates had. So, I drew my own characters then made cutouts of my drawings to play with in place of the dolls I couldn’t have. My favorite character was Jenny, a blonde-haired cartoon with big eyes. Eventually, I made a mask and was able to become my own life-sized doll, Blond Jenny. I used her as a way to escape my fears and tell my stories. Moving to New York in 2012 was the biggest decision of my life and I quickly became nostalgic for Korea. Since then my artwork is a dichotomy between my memories of Korea and my new life in America. I’ve been using both photography and painting to convey imagery that consists of true and false, reality and fiction. My recent work is focused on nature, women’s rights, and American politics. I’m using video and self-photography with mixed media to expand the range of expression in my photography.
