Instead of simply demonstrating K-culture, I hoped the project could resonate with people who speak and learn other second or third languages. I’m as much a gyopo as a kid who grew up in rural Ontario, and I think that shows in my work, if you look for it. This is important to me because I never want to be embarrassed to show my own work to my own community. Rather than an identity-based performativity, I am more interested in the attempt to celebrate diasporas by the people who belong to the people they are drawing from. By being specific to the land and culture, rather than extracting from it. Not by a colonizer, but colleagues, to quote Kendrick Lamar. While not all institutions have caught up, my career as an artist has been influenced by these trends, whether I liked it or not. Even when working within limitations, I try to sneak in something true that could leak out regardless. When coming from a personal place, it always adds richness to the work. If you belong, it’s not only authentic but done without thought. One can’t help it because it is their life, and it oozes out of everything we do. Even if sometimes flawed. ❞