Artwork description: Note to Self is a cast glass work derived from a series of trays inspired by the Korean soban, a traditional tray used as both a serving tool and a base for supporting vessels. The form resonated with my ongoing exploration of personal foundations and the ways notions of home are carried, supported, and remembered.
The work originates from a clay tray into which I carved a handwritten note to myself about what home means. Written in both Korean and English cursive, the text is intentionally difficult to read. In its original clay form, the writing remains hidden beneath the tray; when cast in clear glass, it becomes visible through the surface, revealing what the object quietly holds underneath.
For me, home is not a fixed place but an accumulation of memories, relationships, and experiences. The transparency of glass became a fitting material for this inquiry. Like memory, it both reveals and obscures, absorbing light and its surroundings while remaining fragile and transformative. Through the act of looking through the object, Note to Self invites reflection on the layered, shifting nature of home and selfhood.
Artwork description long: Note to Self is a cast glass work that emerges from a larger series of trays inspired by the Korean soban, a traditional tray historically used as a serving surface and as a support for vessels. The silhouette of an object whose purpose is to hold and elevate another resonated with my research into personal foundations—what supports us, what we carry, and how our understanding of home is formed. The work began as a clay tray in which I carved a handwritten note to myself reflecting on the meaning of home. The text, written in both Korean and English cursive, is intentionally difficult to decipher. While the writing remains concealed in the original clay form, the process of casting transforms the object. In clear glass, the hidden inscription becomes visible from above, allowing viewers to see through the tray and discover what it holds beneath its surface. The material shift from opaque clay to transparent glass becomes a conceptual gesture, revealing something previously inaccessible while preserving its ambiguity. My understanding of home is not tied to a single location. It shifts across memory, space, language, and time. Home exists as both a physical and emotional landscape—constructed through lived experiences, inherited histories, and cultural intersections. As someone navigating multiple cultural contexts, I have become interested in how identity is continuously shaped through acts of remembering, translation, and adaptation. The relationship between home and self feels inseparable, as both are formed through layers of experience rather than fixed definitions. This inquiry led me to glass, a relatively new material within my practice. I was drawn to clear glass not only for its physical properties but also for its conceptual resonance. Glass absorbs and reflects its surroundings, revealing and distorting depending on light, angle, and perspective. In this way, it mirrors the nature of memory and identity—simultaneously present and elusive, stable and mutable. Transparency suggests access and clarity, yet complete understanding remains just beyond reach. Working with glass also expanded ideas that have long informed my ceramic practice, particularly material memory, imprint, and transformation. The processes of casting, heat, and cooling leave traces of change embedded within the material itself. The fragility of glass parallels the delicate nature of personal recollection, while its capacity to preserve form echoes the ways memories become embedded within us over time. In Note to Self, the tray functions as both vessel and archive. The hidden inscription acts as a private record, while the transparency of the glass invites viewers into an act of discovery. What is revealed is not a singular definition of home, but a layered and evolving understanding of selfhood. The work occupies a space between concealment and disclosure, permanence and change, presence and absence. Through this tension, it considers how personal histories are carried within us and how the foundations we build are shaped by what we remember, what we inherit, and what remains just beneath the surface.
Artwork description long: Note to Self is a cast glass work that emerges from a larger series of trays inspired by the Korean soban, a traditional tray historically used as a serving surface and as a support for vessels. The silhouette of an object whose purpose is to hold and elevate another resonated with my research into personal foundations—what supports us, what we carry, and how our understanding of home is formed. The work began as a clay tray in which I carved a handwritten note to myself reflecting on the meaning of home. The text, written in both Korean and English cursive, is intentionally difficult to decipher. While the writing remains concealed in the original clay form, the process of casting transforms the object. In clear glass, the hidden inscription becomes visible from above, allowing viewers to see through the tray and discover what it holds beneath its surface. The material shift from opaque clay to transparent glass becomes a conceptual gesture, revealing something previously inaccessible while preserving its ambiguity. My understanding of home is not tied to a single location. It shifts across memory, space, language, and time. Home exists as both a physical and emotional landscape—constructed through lived experiences, inherited histories, and cultural intersections. As someone navigating multiple cultural contexts, I have become interested in how identity is continuously shaped through acts of remembering, translation, and adaptation. The relationship between home and self feels inseparable, as both are formed through layers of experience rather than fixed definitions. This inquiry led me to glass, a relatively new material within my practice. I was drawn to clear glass not only for its physical properties but also for its conceptual resonance. Glass absorbs and reflects its surroundings, revealing and distorting depending on light, angle, and perspective. In this way, it mirrors the nature of memory and identity—simultaneously present and elusive, stable and mutable. Transparency suggests access and clarity, yet complete understanding remains just beyond reach. Working with glass also expanded ideas that have long informed my ceramic practice, particularly material memory, imprint, and transformation. The processes of casting, heat, and cooling leave traces of change embedded within the material itself. The fragility of glass parallels the delicate nature of personal recollection, while its capacity to preserve form echoes the ways memories become embedded within us over time. In Note to Self, the tray functions as both vessel and archive. The hidden inscription acts as a private record, while the transparency of the glass invites viewers into an act of discovery. What is revealed is not a singular definition of home, but a layered and evolving understanding of selfhood. The work occupies a space between concealment and disclosure, permanence and change, presence and absence. Through this tension, it considers how personal histories are carried within us and how the foundations we build are shaped by what we remember, what we inherit, and what remains just beneath the surface.