Transplanting Her Lily of the Valley. installation
은방울꽃 옮겨심기. 멀티미디어 설치
video (4K color, stereo, 8’ 12”), 42” monitor, and soil nearby the artist’s house. dimensions variable. Sep-Nov 2023
A North Korean female defector who had crossed the Tuman River (the large river between North Korea and China) decades ago told me about her favorite flower, the Lily of the Valley. This small, toxic, and white flower means 'You will be eventually happy,' which reminded me of her resilient life. Her powerful narrative was etched onto my legs through her drawings. A month later, the faded flowers on my legs were replanted onto Santa Monica Beach, next to the Pacific Ocean that I crossed, and re-implanted here in Ann Arbor. This piece poetically suggests how hope, power, and resilience can be continued and passed on from one body to another, across borders.
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나와 여름을 함께한, 오래 전 두만강을 넘은 여성 인터뷰이가 가장 좋아하는 꽃은 은방울 꽃이다. “끝끝내 행복해진다”라는 꽃말을 가진, 독성이 있는 이 꽃은 여성의 손을 거쳐 국경을 넘어 이동하는 다른 여성-나-의 다리에 그려 심어진다. 약 한달이라는 시간을 거쳐 희미해졌지만 끝끝내 남은 꽃의 조각은 태평양을 넘어 새로운 땅에 다시 심어진다.
Selected Exhibitions:
Leaning Against the Wrong Place. TriBowl. South Korea (2024)
We Are Here Because They Were There. Ann Arbor Art Center. United States (2023)