Body, Proximity, Discomfort. Every “body” experiences their proximate surroundings differently. In my practice, I confess how my body experiences my proximate surroundings. Heavily relying on the most intuitive feeling of discomfort, anything my body says “no” to- situations, people, objects- becomes my inspiration. “Proximity” in my practice is not limited to the physical space, but anything that is palpable to my body as it is felt so strongly. My work ranges from a pang of annoyance when someone crosses my physical boundaries to an extreme tension that my body grasps in response to social issues. In “A random smoker”, I share my personal story of running into a random street smoker as a non-smoker in a playful manner. In “My body, your choice”, I show my discomfort, mixed with confusion, in response to legal changes in abortion in the summer of 2022. In my sculpture series “You are a beautiful flower, for now”, I make cynical statements on how aging in the female body is perceived under sick societal obsession towards young pretty women.
Although the overarching emotion across my work is “discomfort”, the focal point of my practice lies in the attempt to understand the root of the discomfort rather than exposing it. My approach reflects my thought process in trying to understand the discomfort. I am not interested in painting something that I already understand or making anything that I can already see; as I make, I find out why. Without a clear plan, I rely on my intuition and begin by collecting objects and ideas that catch my eyes, which often resemble my discomfort. I put these objects next to each other and observe their relationship. At the same time, in my mind, I connect dots to process discomfort. I play with arrangements, compositions, colors, texture, and anything that is tangible to match the form to the root of the discomfort. I find myself distorting the forms, talking to other people, and researching societal responses- such as legal changes- to the situation that feels uncomfortable.
While making, I’ve found my visual language that feels real to me, and I hope it reaches the audience raw and genuine. Just as art allows me a space to digest emotions, thoughts, and even negotiations that my body generates in discomfort, I aim to create a space for the audience to face their bodily experiences that they easily let blow right past them in their daily lives. Under society that constantly asks us to channel the thought process inward and that considers it to be the highest form of thinking, I ask the audience to first acknowledge how their bodies feel: “What’s touching your skin?” “What feels palpable to your body?” and “How does your body react?”
Although my work does not directly speak on social issues, I leave room to encourage bodily interaction from the audience, inviting them to connect not only with my work, but also with each other through communal bodily experience. In this way, I see my work expanding its space and connecting with broader society. It’s not just about me, it’s about us.