miss translation : from fact to feeling to form

Abstract

This thesis is a narration of historical events translated through my own subjective filter; it represents my view of myself as a Korean woman and as an immigrant. It is also the summation of my personal experience of womanhood, which I reflect upon and understand through my artwork. The experience of my youth in the aspiring atmosphere of the rapidly developing Korean society of the 1990s is also an important element in my work. This thesis questions how I, as a female Korean artist, can transform the image of nationality, gender, and the immigration, narratives by which I have been defined by questioning such categories from historical, sociological, and psychological perspectives, within the context of my artistic practice. In my artistic practice I make videos, sculptures, photography, performances, films, installations, and create small objects that question our illusions and preconceptions. By playing with my physical, socio-political constraints and constructions, I reveal the realities that exist behind an image. I do so by questioning invisible forces behind the construction of images that present the individual experience and mass phenomena of contemporary life. I want to shatter these images, call attention to them, and cast a light on the complexities of the human experience. Through my practice I give form to my feelings that hide behind the smile that I argue often represents false feelings. My thesis project functions as a map of my journey, from Korea to America, Los Angeles to Cambridge, past to future, fact to feeling, and memory to form; at the same time, my intention is to evoke a sense of emotional absence, danger and the struggle of identity in others.