My Grandmother's Closet

Spring, 2022

Exhibited at RISD Museum's "Inherent Vice." The project reframes collections care as a reparative, empathetic act that embraces both literal and metaphorical cracks as opportunities for revealing and making room for neglected narratives.

The garments in the museum are far different from the ones my grandmother in Korea wore. Inspired by the question of missing narratives, the silkscreen pattern captures the merging of Korean and Western cultures in female dresses in the 1960s and 1970s. When my grandmother was in her twenties, the integration of Western style into Korean clothing was noticeable. Eastern and Western fashion styles coexisted, with some women wearing Korean traditional hanbok and others wearing heels and silk dresses with collars and pleats. The border of my print is inspired by intricate oyster-shell inlay, often applied as decoration in Korean closets.