IMCA: MiHyun Kim

Name: MiHyun Kim
Country Of Origin: South Korea
Country Now Residing: USA
Title:

Human beings communicate constantly and in a vast variety of ways. It is impossible for two or more human beings to be together without communicating in one way or another. Even when we are alone, we continue to make use of communication: perhaps we read a book or a newpaper, or listen to the radio or watch television, or even in rare moments engage in that silent communication that we call “thinking.” However, imagine that you are suddenly not able to continue to communicate. You can hardly speak, understand, and read, and you are even confused about who you are. Then how would you find a way to connect yourself with the rest of the world?

That was how I felt when I arrived in the United States from South Korea for the very first time three years ago. My brain and heart kept recognizing new things every day, but I could not express what my brain and heart were thinking and feeling because of a different language. These experiences made me aware of how important verbal communication is for human beings. To me, communication means expression. My way of expression is to convey a message through visual language, and my work shows what I think, how I feel, and what I want to say through my experiences living in between two countries. Therefore, my visual expression reflects my emotions, sensations and is an appeal to others to walk in my shoes and my way of connecting myself with a new environment.

Since I came to the United States, I have wanted to understand and be part of the new country, culture, and people. I might have thought that it would be possible to be like a native-English speaker. However, I think that I am still on the edge of this culture, and perhaps I always will be. One of the faculty members at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has asked me, “Do you think that you can have the same life as before you came here in Korea if you go back after graduate school?” I could not answer this question right away because that was the biggest concern I have had for a quite long time and I knew that the answer would be no. I was hesitant to say no because I knew he would ask me why, and I did not want to admit that I feel I do not belong anywhere. I answered, “I feel that I am in between two countries.” Since I had this conversation with him, I have wanted to find my location of culture, and to articulate how living on the borderlines of two cultures affects my thought and work.

This poster is created with only Korean characters with number 9 for g. I want to express that I am trying to fit into this country speaking a second language, but still feel awkward like the letterform in the poster.

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