Along with the rest of the kids from the 90s and 00s, I was significantly driven by a broad spectrum of converged experiences of reality and media. A yearning for digitalised images, at the heart of my artistic vision, stems from childhood memories. As Korea made rapid, technological developments during this time, I was able to create various 2D, 3D characters in the games I was experimenting with and came across many comic books and animations. Part of my work today is overly romantic or conveys this 'intentionally childish mood' in my animations or in the cutscenes of the games I design for.
My work also borrows unpleasant visual expressions that our media did not intend. Engaging in subculture media that hasn't been censored at an early age not only makes an impression on you, but it is also altogether a traumatic experience. That memory is imprinted on the child who saw it, and that fascinates me.

I prefer to create enormous fantasies or ideas from which I grasp an ordinary and subtle inspiration. The initial phase of my work process incorporates broad and subtle experiences, such as the User Interface design of photographs taken during a walk, a video game or a screenshot image of a virtual space. These memories can be intensified and distorted as much as I want at any time. I admire ideas inspired by everyday life that are flexible and can be warped into something else entirely.

Eroticism is part of the experiences I wish to visually express. An image of explicit eroticism is a way of expressing part of my own previous experiences. In their twenties, Korean women become aware of the dualistic nature of women as both sexual objects and sexual subjects, which plunges them into confusion; and, as a result, they have a difficult time tolerating this. This was the emotional experience that I underwent in my early 20s. Although I am 30 years old and married now, the emotions that remained with me from past times resonate with me as powerfully as ever. Thus, the illustrated characters in my paintings are portrayed as complicated figures who dwell, as well, upon melancholy.
I like exploring visually satisfying stimuli that go beyond eroticism. In visual works, there will always be shapes and textures absent from the piece’s symbolic meaning that are there to provide mere sensation and pleasure; they could be flowers, twisted tubes or illuminating abstract objects. I enjoy using these textures and this form of expression. I like discovering shapes and forms in my own neighbourhood. It’s like visual ASMR for me.

Occasionally, I hold a voyeuristic desire to observe myself. Realising myself from the observer’s point of view is contradictory, but still natural. In doing so, I observe myself from a perspective that feels as natural as breathing.
We live a life that is always exposing us to other people. We become oblivious of this fact. The perspective I employ reinforces the idea that we have become accustomed to a virtual space that we skilfully use to create a social network.
Despite the unintended pursuit of a career as an artist, I show my works to audiences but my work fundamentally serves as a retrospection. I use Instagram as a platform to display my works. When I get responses on Instagram postings, I analyse how I perceive those comments and reactions, upon which the decision for future works is greatly influenced. It is a sort of algorithm.

The initial stage of design always concerns an ephemeral inspiration, which may be a simple scribble of ideas. I appreciate an evening walk as it is very inspirational. I watch water running down the ditch on a lane through farmland near my house, a subtle reflection on the water illuminated in the dark by the light of a lamppost on the street, I considered depicting a scene with a flower bouquet in a capsule...
I don’t plan the preliminary stages for a work but I frequently go back and forth between different methods and ideas. Amid the work process, I often immerse myself in an emotional breakdown. Incomplete work often demonstrates, to me, a mid-process anxiety that arises after I put significant efforts into realising a mental image. In the act of producing the works, hundreds of layers are repeatedly generated with the aid of a digital drawing pad and merged through Photoshop. A final image is then repeatedly re-traced onto the flattened layers to complete the work.

My interpretation of the dreamscape is fluid and everchanging; rather than a single dreamscape, it often changes. My most recent one embodies the sensation of being alone on a dark night. It views the world as if it were viewed from a spaceship, which orbits and aimlessly floats in space.

Since we don’t know each other personally, a 'one-sided imagination' is inevitable; and so I imagine the similarities between myself and the musicians. Music is a necessity when I work. When the artist has a concern related to the expectation of a far-fetched visual representation, I have no choice but to refine the work further. The result is an interpretation of their music translated into my own language.

It began with the pdf brief file and the narrative of the song by Oklou. She had grown familiar with my work, from which a desire for the freedom imbued in my art resonated with her. She had already devised the mood and story of the video which made it easier for me to share in the fascinating images she had imagined. I have always been interested in integrating the human body with plants. I pitched this idea on the storyboards and she really welcomed the proposal. Based on her own ideas and imagination, I wanted to render a work that brought us both a lot of meaning. I appreciate her contribution.

I studied animation in college and the reason I pursued this area of study was out of a genuine appreciation of animation. I like the paradox of a still image beside a moving, flat 2D image. The moving picture has inherent mobility at each moment. A single picture can illustrate various directional natures. When I draw a still illustration, I recall the motion of screen capture of a video from a game or a scene from a movie. A particular scene fused with temporal quality is extracted.

As an artist who recognises the importance of digital painting as a primary medium, I plan to explore future works that are constructed via 2D-based animation techniques. The techniques I use in drawing animation are borrowed from previous still-life illustrations. The unique visual languages of animation are the main materials for my work. Yes, I will continue working on animation.