토비. Exploration

A documentation of a Korean American heritage through food and art.

토비. is an exploration of my own cultural identity as a Korean-American artist. Through this project, I began to embrace the ambiguity and cultural divide being a Korean and an American. This series of work started from a sense of displacement within my own community and heritage. By integrating various art practices within book making, cooking, painting, woodworking, and video, I found a sense of belonging and comfort in the process.

Problem Statement:

South Korea has become one of the top leading and innovative countries in the world. However, the preservation and creation of traditional methods of art making has been slowly losting the collective memories as generations of Korean-Americans face feelings of displacement.

Positioning Statement:

The feeling of displacement is a common feeling that is present but never acknowledged within the Korean-American community. I would like to create a visual platform/project that represents the history of Korean-American traditions and the collective memories we share together.

Theme/Idea:

How might we illustrate our traditional practices as Korean-Americans in order to preserve our cultural identity and collective memory?

Final Iterations:

Birthday Meal, Recipie Book, 6 1⁄4” x 1⁄4”
A handmade artist recipie book composed of a series of dishes and tea to preparing a Korean-American home-cooked birthday meal.

Illustrated, printed, and bounded by 토비.

Featured Recipies:
-참깨Sesame 브로콜리Broccoli
-미역Seaweed 국Soup
-단Sweet 호박Pumpkin 조림Braised
-한방Recovery 차Tea

Soju Cat, Acrylic on canvas, 36.5” x 36.5”
This painting is a depitction of how alcohol can be used within my Korean heritage. The jou bottle is one of the motifs in my work that represents the Korean side of my identity to suppress expression and emotion. After my aunt’s passing during Covid, there was a period of introspection into how alcohol played a role in my life. Furthermore, it was a recurring them of suprresion in many upbringings to become numb and avoid feeling. The soju cat encapsulates the comfort found through alcohol and by painting piece it released a voice and feeling one could not say with words.

토비. - A wooden nameplate with homemade indigo paint, 24” x 12 3⁄4” x 3⁄4”
During the dynasty eras of Korea, a namplate was used to identify owners of homes, have an address on it, and recognition from the country. The creation of this 토비. nameplate is my own modern interpretation of an identification plate contemporizing Korean iconography. This logo has become one of my main symbolism in my works as a Korean-American artist and maker.

Birthday Soup Cooking Video
A cooking video that was created for a Korean-American audience who would be missing a homecooked meal on their birthdays, and people who would be interested learning Korean food. Through this exploration of medium, I found an affinity towards cooking.

토비. Process Book, 8.5” x 11”

A hand-bound artist book that documents the entire process of 토비. Exploration.