NORI

2023

Nori
Dimensions variable
Hair, Color rope

"Where Is My Friend's Home" at Hyundai Motorstudio, 2023 ⓒ Hyundai Motor Company

“Nori” is a project that reinterprets the childhood memory object, Norigae, by deliberately fulfilling one’s desires. The artist’s desires, identity, and freedom of choice were suppressed and hidden due to societal expectations of gender within South Korea’s conservative culture. This object-making process, which allows the artist to express his personal desire indirectly serves as a sanctuary where he can find some freedom. Norigae was an object that allows the artist to imagine a world where he could let his long hair flow freely and braid it(or play with barbie doll’s long hair), something he couldn’t do in the real world. By integrating the act of combing and braiding hair through the craftsmanship of Norigae, it is reborn as a totem symbolizing the artist’s aspirations for the imaginative world he dreamt of since childhood.