People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons, from within.
Woo Jin’s practice focuses on the relationship between humans and objects, and the larger conversation it sparks around today’s ecological crisis. Taking cues from traditional East Asian folklore, mythology and philosophy, Woo Jin explores ways of re-enchanting stories around the everyday and mundane, creating mystical creatures that encourage us to reframe our thinking around objects beyond the current consumer culture.
Responding to the theme ‘tailored’, her sculpture explores ideas around enchanted beings repossessing objects, and their internal space, tailored for the human body and need, challenging the human-centric perspective we often endow on these objects. What meanings do objects carry beyond being of service to our bodies? What would arise if the imaginary and mythological world collides with the physical? Responding to these questions, an amorphous shape creeps out from an old jacket, reclaiming the space we assume is entitled and tailored to our own use. The title of the work, originally from a book by Ursula Le Guin, also hints at the existence of this mystical world that seeks to creep out into physical existence.
The sculpture was created using freehand machine embroidery and freestanding embroidery technique on dissolvable backing, challenging the boundaries of embroidery in fine art.
