My work focuses on the phenomenon of “infantilization” that emerges as individuals navigate social roles and norms in contemporary society. Here, infantilization does not simply mean returning to childhood, but rather a state in which one seeks to escape the reason, responsibility, and social norms demanded by society, relying instead on immediate desires and impulses. I view this condition as one in which childlike innocence and chaos coexist. Childlike innocence emerges from a state that has not yet been fully integrated into social order and conventions, and within it exist instinctive impulses and disorder that cannot be easily distinguished through concepts such as good and evil, or right and wrong.
In my work, a playful attitude functions as a device for transforming heavy or serious meanings into lighter and more familiar forms. Symbols of destruction, such as bombs, and concepts carrying social weight, such as justice and punishment, are transformed into playful and familiar images. This creates a gap between the original meaning of an object and the new meaning assigned to it. Through this gap, I examine how contemporary individuals perceive and consume serious issues and desires. In particular, a seemingly harmless playful attitude can lead to a way of treating violence and destruction with indifference, revealing the point at which the boundaries between innocence and madness begin to dissolve.
I do not regard innocence as inherently good. Childlike innocence is a state that exists before intention or calculation intervenes, but at the same time, it can also be a state of chaos in which impulses and desires emerge without restraint. This duality of innocence and chaos appears in my work through the collision between playful forms and subjects carrying serious or disturbing meanings. Through this, I seek to suggest that innocence and violence, curiosity and destruction, desire and control are not necessarily separate from one another, but can coexist within the same state.
The clown serves as another device through which I explore the contemporary individual. A clown performs a role under the gaze of others and produces laughter, while anxiety, desire, and exaggerated impulses exist beneath that performance. Through clown-like situations, I simultaneously examine the contemporary individual who performs a socially assigned role and the inner impulse to escape from that role.
I also regard the “line” as a form of visual language. A line is not merely a tool for depicting an object, but a sign that conveys images and meanings, sometimes communicating emotions and situations more directly than language itself. Therefore, my paintings question not only what is being represented, but also how it is read and consumed.
Ultimately, my work explores how states that appear to be opposites—innocence and chaos, madness and reason, playfulness and violence, desire and control—can in fact exist along the same continuum. Through playful imagery and a simplified visual language, I seek to disrupt these boundaries and reveal the impulses and desires concealed within familiar and seemingly lighthearted scenes.
