My Hanbok (나의 한복)
My Hanbok (나의 한복) is a hand-made wearable testament to my journey thus far in reclaiming Korean identity. While a traditional dress is worn to express cultural pride, mine is marked by the event that alienates me from my mother country. Prints of legal markings that denote my status as an orphaned foreign child are subtly masked by layers of fabric. The dress is specifically made to fit me but lacks a bodily presence. This emptiness nods to the disconnection of the memories of my origin, and to the simultaneous gratefulness and shame of adoption. Concrete evidence of my beginning and the allusion to my present body meld together in one object. The piece speaks of the turbulence of existing between cultures and the push and pull of fitting in.