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Rendered Reality

Korean Cultural Centre UK, London, UK

2020

Photograph by Dan Weill

Special Thanks to Jane Chan

The work begins with the real conversation of the mother and me, leading in a real space. The autobiographical recollection of mother 's life, which could not be easily heard in life, naturally turns mother into a speaker and me into a listener.

The work begins with the recording of an actual conversation between me and my mother filmed in a modern flat. The focus gradually shifts to my mother as she recollects her life in more detail, something I had not heard her do previously. I remain the listener.

The eventful life and its surrounding contexts in South Korea, which had been deprived since the Korean war (1950-1953) that was passed down by the mother's slow explanations, overlaps with the Asian woman's image of the times that had to suffer under the male-centric power and capital order and is conveyed to me and anonymous viewers.

My mother reveals an eventful life begun in Seoul, South Korea enduring hardships of the Korean War (1950-1953). A picture emerges of an Asian woman growing up in an oppressive, male-dominated authoritarian culture and coming to terms with the pressure, especially for a woman, to succeed in this highly-competitive and commercially successful country.

At the same time, the moving image shows the refined housing space and the actual mother present in it in a contemplative and detailed way, showing the current daily life embodied by the power and order mentioned above and the mother as a human being living in it.

During my mother’s recollections, images are shown, in a contemplative and detailed way, of a cold stylish domestic setting in which she was, despite societal pressures, both mother and successful designer.

Her past and the countless emotional whirlwinds that are being revealed and turned into conversation turn her into a human being who has to endure cruel reality and oppression, not simply the mother of anyone. The image is an actual record of such a process and is conveyed to the audience as a portrait of an individual.

As the conversation progresses it becomes clear that this is a woman, not only a mother and wife but someone who has suffered countless emotional whirlwinds, instability and oppression yet retained an independent spirit.