Artist Statement
As a Los Angeles-based artist from Seoul, South Korea, I am invested in exploring the points of connection between disparate cultures, social classes, and histories, as well as how these disparities have a marginalizing effect on social groups shaped by Western hegemony. My work incorporates residues, byproducts, and imprints born of labor, time, memories, and personal and public histories. By integrating these charged materials into my art practice, I seek to honor the physical, collective presence of all we have left behind in our labors and hint at our unseen potential and the possibility of alternate histories and counterfactual realities.
My recent works incorporate remnants from various sources of physical labor, including my own experiences as a professional woodworker, the labor of other immigrant workers in the garment industry, and the contributions of railroad workers in the 19th century, many of whom were immigrants. Materials such as sawdust, wood scraps, railway spikes, and fabric remnants not only symbolize the often unrecognized labor that has profoundly influenced the history of America but also allude to the potential and beauty inherent in everyday labor as a collective effort.
