ARTIST INTERVIEW

“Towoo(土偶) originally stands for dolls made of clay. It is collectively known as forms of ceramics, which are modeled by diverse objects like sculptured figures, animals and even living tools. For the ancient civilizations, the articles had played roles in a shamanistic purpose of grave goods as well as tomb guardians circled around the tumulus. When they have come across the modern times, they have become specialized in decorative artworks. To be more specific, one of the art genres is Towoo, which can be characterized with both ceramics and sculpture.”

The tigers I make would never be scary objects. They have resemblances with the folksy and humorous visage of Koreans. When you see the tigers in traditional Korean folk painting, Hojakdo (A tiger and a magpie painting, 虎鵲圖), their facial expressions are very funny and naïve yet they seem to pretend serious with exaggerated big eyes slowly winking. In Korean folktales, tigers used to be described as a dopey being that causes laughter rather than harm. The reason why I chose the tigers as a motif for my work is that I believe joys and sorrows of life and temperament of our people who have lived surrounded by barren mountains in their whole lives are thoroughly reflected on tiger sculptures.”

ARTIST CV