About
 Fish

The image of fish has been symbolically important to me since I was little. I make fish images as if I make icons. It is my private ritual.

Fish  represents
 to 
me 
a 
cluster
 of 
certain 
 adjectives 
– 
fluid, 
 fragile, 
gentle
 and 
silent. 
I 
have
 symbolically
 identified
 myself
 with  fish,
 since 
I
 was
 a 
child.
 I am starting to understand 
why 
I
 have 
had 
such 
inclination 
towards 
fish.

According
 to 
Korean
 folk 
traditions,
 when 
a 
woman
 conceives 
a 
baby,
 she 
is 
endowed 
with
 a
 particular
 dream
 composed 
of
 symbolic 
objects,
 such 
as 
a 
peach 
for 
a
 daughter,
 a
 dragon
 for
 a
 boy,
 etc.
 When 
I
 was 
about
 ten, 
my
 mother 
told
 me 
about
 the 
boy
 baby 
she
 had
 conceived
 after
 my
 own
 birth.
 In 
the 
dream,
 she
 caught
 a
 trout
 (a
symbol
 for a 
boy) 
in 
a 
small 
bowl. 
She
 explained 
that
 the
 size
 of 
the 
bowl
 indicated 
the 
life
span 
of 
the 
baby, 
and
 that 
that 
was
 why 
he
 did
 not 
live
 long.
 He
 was 
aborted.


I 
forgot 
about 
this 
story
 as 
I
 grew
 older.
 However,
 it
 transformed
 into 
an 
image 
with 
which 
I
 identify,
 as 
if
 my
 unborn 
brother 
grew 
up 
inside
 me,
 becoming
 part
 of 
me 
as 
fish 
images.


First Red Fish, beetroot juice on watercolor paper, 42cm x 29.7cm, 2017

Fish with Needles, beetroot juice on watercolor paper, 42cm x 29.7cm, 2017

Fish #3, beetroot juice on watercolor paper, 42cm x 29.7cm, 2017

Fish 
in
 a 
Bowl, Lino‐cut
print, 10”
x
14”,
 1999

Fish 
Composition #1, Silkscreen, 18”
x
14”,
 1999

Fish 
Composition #2, Silkscreen, 18”
x
14”, 1999

Two Fish 
Eaten, Mono-print, 10”
 x 14”, 1999