Artist Statement

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ND:My art and research focuses on issues of consumerism and the sociological impact of ‘object desire’, the creation of desire for status and material possessions based on persuasive mass media advertising practices and social pressures. I am particularly interested in how contemporary consumer values create social expectations and subsequent pressures, especially on young children in my home country of South Korea. Growing up there, I experienced the accelerated Western consumerism of our developing economy, and the pressures that parents and children suffered as they tried to conform to the expectations of success, achievement, and the acquisition and symbolic display of wealth.

ND:My work challenges, through humour and satire, the pervasive and too easily accepted concepts of success and wealth. My art reinterprets the original meaning and purpose of obvious pop objects in our consumer society, visualizing them in terms of their underlying societal messaging, implications, and philosophies. The symbolism and references move beyond icons of pop culture, to examine and incorporate existing philosophies, interpreting them sculpturally in our contemporary context.

ND:Glass is one of my favourite mediums because of its transparency and ability to reveal what is within and beyond. Glass can speak metaphorically to question and examine societal values. Other sculptural materials contribute a counter point, and allow me more scope to reference mass produced objects. My art is intended to stimulate awareness and consideration of the links between what we value in life, and how we live in response to our values.
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