No landscape is ever neutral. Every landscape has multiple layers of history, interpretation, and
importance. From its folklore to its geology, every plot of land has told many stories. My project is about
unearthing the social and political contexts embedded in the landscape and reinterpreting the landscape to
make the invisible visible. Through this process, I continuously ask these questions: Who has the
authority to reshape a landscape? Who are the people affected by those changes?

Landscape Painting is a project composed of research, performance, and a video about the Young-Heung
Island in Incheon, South Korea. The project focuses on my father’s stories about the loss of the clean
seawater and tidelands on this island to industrial development and tourism.

I interviewed my father, who was born and raised on the island, to learn how the landscape lost its
original features. The construction of a new tide embankment, power plant, and bridge to the mainland
had a devastating impact on the locals’ livelihoods.

Based on my father’s memories, I painted a scene of the sea with the original natural scenery
superimposed on an image of the new constructions. With this painting, I am unearthing a remembered
landscape, challenging the appropriateness of the new construction in the local community.