"i live in a burning house"

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"i live in a burning house" (2021) | 90cm x 120cm | acrylic, hand-dyed cotton thread on raw canvas

“I live in a burning house” visualises the feeling of experiencing anger and resentment.
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This feeling lasted for a long time until I noticed having anger and resentment was only hurting me and no one else. But, even after becoming aware of it, it was hard to stop. I felt trapped in these feelings that were causing me pain. I started writing in my art journal trying to figure out how this felt in terms of imagery. It felt like my body was a house and I was trapped inside of a burning house. The flame was melting my body. There is a door to walk out, but it’s as if I’m choosing not to leave. Represented by the limp arms, I’ve given up while flames engulf my body. 

I wanted to paint something that would help me get out of this feeling, so I replaced flames with flowers. There are many repetitive elements in the painting, and in a way, this repetitiveness was used as a meditative treatment for the anger and resentment I was carrying. Within a month of it, those feelings had been resolved. By replacing flames with flowers I replaced pain with conquest and achievement.

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spirit illness series

The Spirit Illness series explores my long-suffering of a spiritual and metaphysical experience. For most of my life, I endured a series of unexplained symptoms such as undiagnosable depression, extreme fatigue, alcoholism, dreaming and seeing of spirits, and precognitions. Finally, I was diagnosed with a culturally-specific spirit illness, known in Korea as ‘Sinbyoeng’ (신병). The Spirit Illness series began in 2019, and fortunately, the symptoms were diagnosed and treated successfully through a shamanic ritual in July 2020.

​The series mostly includes self-portraits with snakes and animal symbolism. It is a growing body of work, as there are many more stories yet to be told.

spirit illness: slump (2020) | 90cm x 120cm | acrylic, hand-dyed cotton threads on raw canvas.

​spirit illness: the hunt (2020) | 120cm x 90cm | acrylic, hand dyed cotton thread on linen

spirit illness: beer (2020) | 90cm x 120cm | acrylic, hand-dyed cotton threads on raw canvas.