As a sculptor working primarily in clay, my practice is a quest to explore and challenge the often unspoken experiences of women and femmes. My creations delve into the manifestations of compulsory femininity and womanhood, grappling with the internalized pressures ingrained within a white, capitalist, colonial, and patriarchal society. Central to my art is the motif of the wounded maiden, symbolized by internal spikes, which signifies themes of violence, misogyny, vanity, victimhood, shame, and self-hate. These harmful forces often alienate femmes from embracing the transformative divine Feminine within. Through my work, I critique heteropatriarchal norms, pressures to participate in predatory capitalism, and violence against women and femmes.

My artistic practice involves profound introspection, directly confronting my womanhood and deeply interrogating my beliefs. I work with clay as a vessel for critical exploration, finding a poetic resonance with the divine Feminine in the material itself. Engaging with clay is a ritualistic practice, necessitating constant care, breaking, rebuilding, shaping, and transformation. This process poignantly reflects my personal journey of dismantling and rebuilding my identity. Historically, some of the earliest known clay artists were the Jomon, a community of women potters who embodied the divine Feminine through their creations. Clay and feminism are intimately intertwined, and continuing and expanding upon this legacy holds great significance for me.

I utilize a bold monochromatic color palette, dominated by shades of pink and red. While pink is a gendered and sometimes shameful association with femininity, the addition of chrome spikes in my pieces disrupts this softness, subverting the patriarchal gaze that expects women to be pleasing and polite. My sculptures ooze with gloopy glazes, serving as a visual metaphor for façades that conceal deeper internal struggles. This tension is an opening to confront the cycles of trauma and disempowerment. The interplay between inviting aesthetics and harsh realities creates a narrative that blends patriarchal expectations of beauty with the concealed truths of the femme experience.

My work is inspired by intersectional feminist theory and my lived experience navigating womanhood as a daughter of Corean immigrants. My Asian American identity provides an additional lens through which I perceive the world and how I perceive my own subjectivity. My sculptures act as a container for this criticality, inviting a deeper understanding and appreciation of the complexities found within the dimensions of my Asian American female identity.