Advanced Fiber Studio (Highlights)
I always believed in the American Dream because my father achieved it when he and my mother came to the United States from Korea. He received the education he needed in less than half the time required in all Korean universities and found a job to support us as well. Watching this as I grew up, I thought that all immigrants were given this golden opportunity and able to have better lives from it. However, I never thought that moving to Korea for ten years would change my perspective vastly. My Korean acquaintances told me that I am ���lucky��� to be of US citizenship because I have many more privileges compared to them. Examples of these privileges are that companies tend to hire fewer employees with different citizenship due to additional taxation and international students are not given any financial aid at school. From visa to green cards, the process is extremely complex and restricting. It seems that the US does not want more people to come in, yet are more than willing to use international factories for cheap labor. The cracks of the system are visible to me now. By existing between two cultures, I see how poorly immigration laborers are treated and the monstrosity of how much Americans need to consume in order to be satisfied.
My choice of media and processes are taken from explorations of what it means to labor. The materials are in direct relation to the medias used in factories that I had visited in Korea. Embellishing sequins for days straight and making prints in bulk are my interpretations of a small aspect of what laborers do as a living. The reflection and realizations are the vocal point in my pieces and a message that no matter how much glue you put through the cracks, they will always be there.