Beyond death, I speak of life,

It's only natural and inevitable for humans to consume the life of another in order to keep themselves alive... From time unknown, however, other living beings have degraded to nothing more than food supplies only waiting to be cooked for and by us, human beings. For example, Meats are merely a product displayed "beautifully" in a package after mass production; As a result of industrialization, human beings can stay far from having to witnessing slaughtering process of animals as well as the quality of our lives have been improved. Humans, accordingly, have evolved into cruel carnivores. I, as an artist, am here to shed new light on the dignity of all living beings, believing that we shouldn't consider even the smallest of living things insignificant. To me, the deaths of small living beings, which might be done only to satisfy some humans' tongues, came to me as unpleasant palpitations.

In order to satisfy our appetite, animals become reduced forms of meat. We humans sit comfortably on top of the food chain and unfortunately, that seems to be the only relationship we have with nature. As an artist, I cannot bear such lifestyle; ungratefully taking the life of another simply to satisfy our appetites. Amidst the visual sense of smell, touch, taste encroaching into the spirit of death, I feel the life of the small and powerless. I as a living being, come face to face with deceased animals through my artwork, and begin to identify and target similar feelings and pain. Recognizing these changes outside of the food chain, an artist can have an objective view of today¡¯s troubled times to provide a point of view. Perhaps if humans in modern society are confronted or exposed to the animal¡¯s environment, our relationship with them would not be as cruel or inhumane. We tend to easily forget that countless animals are killed in order to be prepared as a dish on our table.

Ingredients carry a message of impact simply because they become reason and topic for creativity. Rather than creating "something" from "nothing", the artist explores subject matters that are found readily in our lives and places focus on redefining its existing meaning and purpose. The unusual jumble of ordinary objects and formative changes shatter deep-rooted myths and guides its observers through visual heterogeneity and psychological impact. The collision of these which no common ground escapes context of reality and invokes poetic visualization. The beauty summoned by unfamiliar visions highlights the "death" captured within ingredients and inversely, "life" given by them. These purposeful devices by the artist endow new meaning and worth to food ingredients we ordinarily hold no importance to and redirect our attention to frailty of life. Death and Life exist in dependence of one another, and the seemingly dark "death" is transformed by the artist into art and gains thriving "life"

The artist envisions a once precious beating heart through the focus-less eyes of an animal. Our natural daily encounters with food ingredients become an important experiential occurrence of inspiration and gives passion to thought that any chosen thing can be transcended through art. The piece also contains acknowledgement and gratitude to consumed lives that gift us with life. To the artist, food is not an object to consume but an object that provides metaphor to value of a living heart. This gallery will offer an opportunity for one to reflect on the sacrificial lives that allows him/her to live on.