Instagram as a visual diary
Seoul, South Korea: Buddha’s Birthday lanterns. Love it or hate it, call it photography or not, there’s something romantic about Instagram. Captured spur of the moment with a smartphone, these digitally-enhanced, square-formatted images are both visually appealing and a great tool for documentation. For about a year, I’ve been uploading photos on Instagram, and in some...
![I'm [sketching] on Tumblr now!](http://www.mappingwords.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/반씩-내다-290x290.jpg "I'm [sketching] on Tumblr now!")
I’m [sketching] on Tumblr now!
Just when I thought my brain would explode with sparks made of Twitter links and Facebook updates, I created a “Mapping Words: Sketches” Tumblr account. I was hesitant to delve into Tumblr for the longest time because I didn’t understand it; it seemed like a platform filled with overly-shared material and confusing threads with no “about me” page...
A peek inside a Buddhist sculpture studio
Over the past few years, I’ve attended an array of lantern parades and festivals throughout Asia, filled with skillfully-crafted floats and lanterns. I snapped the photo above at the Buddha’s birthday lantern parade in 2009, and ever since, I’ve been curious as to how these massive, fragile works of art are created. Surprisingly, I happened...
Travelers with Sketchbooks: Kimberly Bryant
“Map” – At the airport in India, waiting to go to Egypt, I started mapping the path I was on, including a bit of the past, present, and future. I map my emotions rather than geographical locations. Unsurprisingly, I have a terrible sense of direction in ‘real’ life! *** Kimberly Bryant, the second artist featured...
![Paintings published in [b]racket magazine](http://www.mappingwords.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/bracket1-290x290.jpg "Paintings published in [b]racket magazine")
Paintings published in [b]racket magazine
A few months ago, Jess Hinshaw, one of the founders of [b]racket magazine, a Daegu-based art magazine, read one of my articles on Chincha?! and asked me if I’d like to contribute some of my artwork to their publication. I was honored. I submitted a few of my map-themed paintings and collages, and they were featured...
Anish Kapoor at the Leeum Samsung
Prior to last weekend, I didn’t know much about Anish Kapoor, an Indian artist residing in England, but after hearing many positive reviews, I visited the Leeum/Samsung Museum of Art to see his solo exhibition. I’ve been anxious to return to this particular museum ever since I viewed Do Ho Suh’s impressive solo, “Home Within...
By day: street art and steel factories in Mullae
A few weeks ago, I visited Mullae, “the art village of Seoul,” located on the Western side of the city in Youngdeungpo-gu. I shot some photos of the neighborhood at night, documenting the small metal and steel factories, narrow alleyways and street art illuminated by the dim glow of street lights. As I mentioned in...
The absence of help: a Korean girl’s testimony on recovering from an eating disorder
Last year, one of my good Korean friends, who I met while studying as an exchange student at the Korea National University of Arts, was tutoring a girl who was applying for art school. My friend taught her drawing techniques and how to prepare her portfolio. Her student dreamed of studying in New York, specifically at Pratt,...
By Night: street art and steel factories in Mullae
To many, Seoul is a city that is stark and clean. Cloned, white high-rise apartment buildings are replacing old, demolished houses, and graffiti and street art is rare. Some neighborhoods have yet to be redeveloped, such as my neighborhood in northeast Seoul, comprised of 1970′s style houses with kimchi pots and gardens on the rooftops, and others...
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