After the Figure

Abstract

After the Figure is a body of work created through the lens of "Han," a Korean cultural concept that describes an unresolved resentment against injustices suffered, as well as feelings of sorrow as a result of historical violence endured by the country and its people. It is a concept that lives in an immaterial form but has been described as a physical affliction on the body—a pain felt in the innermost parts of the self. My work, through the lens of Han, addresses sexual violence and its violatory effects on the body. It aims to discuss how this violence affects an individual psychosomatically and how that manifests in the form of an abject body by using methods of construction and materials that evoke both visceral, reflexive response and deeper thought.