Domuji explores the contradiction between the desire to belong and the impulse to exclude others. Through a figure suspended between human and nonhuman, presence and disappearance, the work contemplates the fragile boundary between “it” and “us.”

Stripped of its name because no one calls to it, yet simultaneously turned into a monster by others, “it” derives both its form and its name from Domoji and Domuji. As if covered by one thin sheet of paper after another, the being disappears soundlessly and without a trace into everyday life. Those thin sheets are still slowly settling upon someone's face.

- Domuji: A state in which there is absolutely nothing one can do; a situation from which one cannot escape, no matter how hard one tries.
- Domoji (塗貌紙): A method of execution practiced during the Joseon dynasty, in which sheets of wet hanji (traditional Korean paper) were layered over the face until breathing was no longer possible.

Sculpture, Photography
Hanji, plaster, mixed media
580 x 365 x 790 mm
2024