
Artist Statement

My work explores how emotions and societal norms shape our bodies. I use clay and traditional jar-making techniques from Korean culture to construct handmade, distorted human forms, encouraging reflection on relationships. My abstracted figurative sculptures subvert peaceful, surreal elements, normalizing discomfort and fostering acceptance, particularly among marginalized communities.
I use clay to explore the human body. Born from dust and returning to it, humans are perfectly represented by clay, with its natural, organic color minimizing the need for added tones. For me, sculpture extends painting, built layer by layer like a raw canvas, and I fire the clay only once to preserve its natural essence.
Growing up in Korea, I was taught that making eye contact was impolite, especially with elders. This cultural norm led me to navigate the world through non-verbal communication. As an immigrant, I continue to adapt and find my place in unfamiliar spaces, and this experience of displacement is mirrored in my work. My fragmented sculptures reflect the vulnerability of the human body, inviting subtle feelings of anxiety and discomfort when confronting the unfamiliar. In Korean culture, 'different' is often conflated with 'wrong.' I challenge this misconception by dissecting and reassembling my sculptures, embracing distortion and imperfection as ways to normalize difference. My goal is to help others become comfortable with discomfort, seeing that difference is not only okay but essential.
I aim to create faces without specific personalities, allowing the focus to be on structural changes rather than identity. I'm not making monsters; instead, I'm reorganizing the human form to develop my interpretation of a 'perfect' body—one that challenges societal expectations and norms.