Featured Videographer: Valery Jung Estabrook
I am a multidisciplinary artist exploring culture and the human experience through media and time-based installations. I often use my own life events as an entry point for wider topics with the aim of creating intimate spaces for a public audience. The resulting work reveals hidden personal histories, allowing others to peer into a private psychological space, with the ultimate goal of outward connection and contributing to ongoing dialogues.
Beautiful Face is single channel video consisting of both found and original footage that explores the themes of cultural appropriation, racial stereotypes and gender roles through the performative use of masks. I was originally inspired by traditional Korean tal (탈) masks: archetypal masks used in folk dances and plays. Although tal literally translates to “mask,” the word is derived from a Chinese character meaning “to free oneself.” In this reimagining of the tal, I have created my own characters specific to my experience as a Korean American woman. Some of these characters emerged from racist encounters. Others shed light on secret, sometimes shameful, desires and wishes-to-be. Externalizing these personas gives freedom to become and confront them, and ultimately exorcise them from my psyche.
See more of Valery Jung Estabrook’s work here.
