EG1

Pink is the colour that gives us the strongest voice. 

Is pink a girl, or a boy? Some say it is definitely a girl, but does the colour have a gender? There is no other colour that has as strong symbolic meaning as pink. It is a colour that refers to one gender by its presence alone. Often when you see pink in public, it means the things or facilities are for women. This is such a deep-rooted stereotype, it is not easy to think of anything else.

I was born in South Korea, the second among three sisters. In a family of four women and a series of girls' schools, my father and some teachers were the only men in my life until I became an adult. When I first move to Seoul to study, I found that the outside world treated me as a woman rather than a human being. I had lived to that point thinking that I was the centre of my own life, but I was a woman who can't be a centre in society. I felt like I had become an outsider. 

Female, human sex, not a man. Pink, of the numerous shades of red mixed with white. Not as intense as red, not as pure as white, may in itself refer to those who have become dreary peripherals. Rather than those who have been dressed in pink since birth, I'm more interested in the meaning of pink for people who do not normally enjoy pink. Pink itself is interpreted as a woman's colour and has come to signify the feminine, but a lot of times even those who identify themselves as women avoid pink to avoid the stigma. The same societal pressure that deprives non-women of pink, forces the colour upon women, perpetuating the frustration and silence of countless people. 

I study the past and present of "pink" and observe its position in modern society. In my practice, I explore conflicts arising between people who want to accept pink and who want to escape from pink, and the society that would see pink as exclusively feminine. What is pink? What is femininity? What is it about femininity and the colour pink that some people fear? These questions were the beginning of my pink series. The pink I mean in my projects is typical femininity that is commonly seen in a ‘normal’ society. In viewing my work, I want the audience to think differently than the clichéd understanding of pink.