Ji Woo Kim
Region: MFA Annual
I make work that addresses the meaning of home or, sometimes, the lack thereof for individuals like myself: those who grew up as children of multiple cultures and places. My paintings are a personal investigation into the complex question of how we as individuals define home and, more specifically, where home is located for people with variegated cultural identities. My own experience as a Generation 1.5 immigrant has put me on a journey of floating back and forth in perpetuum between time zones seventeen hours apart, trying to navigate myself to a place that feels like home. Having never been able to find a sense of belonging to any one culture or environment, painting has become a vehicle for me to create my own sense of community. I focus on depicting group scenes that convey a sense of true belonging between the figures, while also observing their surrounding cultural and physical environments. Through painting these scenes that are both foreign and familiar to me, I am able to visually concoct my own cultural identity and history.