WORLD 2021
Charcoal on Paper, Beads, Collage, & Plastic Film
4ft X 4ft
A kitsch-inspired collage juxtaposing two contrasting elements: the plastic beads and black & white figures. The showy beads epitomize the surface-level, performative aspects of the world in 2021. The colorful beads yell for attention, while, in contrast, the somber, darker societal issues, as represented in the depiction of BLM and Myanmar protests, tend to be overshadowed. By maintaining tension between monochrome and color, the work highlights how modern society relieves stress amidst anxious times by steering away to more superficial things.
WHERE TO LOOK
Digital video, 10 seconds
In this three-channel video, I painted a still image using watercolor then animated a part of it by inserting visually altered scenes from a jewelry commercial, Myanmar Protest, and the Amazon rainforest, left to right respectively. The piece as a whole is illustrative of people’s tendencies to avoid reality and embrace superficiality, as our eyes naturally gravitate towards the showy left panel the most. In an era saturated with media coverage, I must be more conscious of my content consumption.
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TWO MARCHING WORLDS PART 1
Beads, Paper collage, String, iPhone, fabric
11in X 14in X 11in
Created using plastic beads, strings, photo collage, and fabric, is a follow-up sculptural piece to World 2021. Both artworks establish tension between superficiality and reality, or performance and activism. In this sculpture, I placed two contrasting parts of our world as represented in the 2022 Dior Fashion Show and Myanmar protest. On the left, as shown by the runway video, highlights man-made celebration and flaunting of high-class in our modern era. On the right, as shown by the Myanmarese outcry of injustice, underrepresented peoples’ are desperate for agency and freedom. If seen as a whole, the sculpture resembles a silhouette of a person with a sharp dichotomy between two sides of its face. This piece represents my internal struggle, stemming from my indecision, as to where I should be placing my attention in a year that felt sharply divided.
TWO MARCHING WORLDS PART 2
Digital Video, 48 seconds.
SQUID GAME: TEMPTATION OR DEATH
Digital Photography
2ft X 2ft
This artwork refers to Squid Game, a Netflix show that comments on the replaceability of humans in modern capitalist society, and specifically to a scene where players must discern between tempered glass and normal glass while risking falling to their death. I found that the composition I made from photographs of my ceramic pieces fit with the message delivered by the show. The colorful photos represent a step closer to worldly temptations whereas the monochrome pictures represent a step leading to death. By laying out colorful and monochrome photos in a checkerboard composition, I intend to deliver the cautionary message that glamorous lures and death are only one step away.