Immediate Response
I was curious about the blotchy cracked turtle-like skin pattern on different forms in the artwork. I took notice of how each of the forms looked like a stranged island in the clear ocean and emerge with the horizon. As I keep zooming in and out to make sense of the form, I realized that they are body parts such as hands, feet, torso, etc. Therefore, I started to make connections between humans and the environment. Could this be portraying some environmental issue or human footprint on the ocean?
Objective Description
There are different parts of the body such as the torso, feet, and hands scattered and emerging halfway in the clean ocean water. The forms have cracked, blotchy, turtle-like skin on them. They also look like stranded islands in the ocean water. The ocean has some soft small waves and clear water. There is also a soft pink horizon and fluffy white clouds in the background as well.
Technical Decisions
In this series, Kim Joon is exploring the relationship between humanity and nature. Usually, his art is focused on tattoos, and stepping into this new exploration. Though he still sticks with having body parts as a canvas to portray the experiences. In this series, it seems like he rendered animal skins (in this case, turtle’s skin) on fragmented human body parts as islands in the ocean. It might depict the death of the animals as they float to the surface, the relationship between humans, and our impacts on the animals. It shows the side of fragility and strength of life, some lives that are not as reversible as well.
The Work in the World
His artwork was influenced by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and his visit to the volcanic island of Jeju. Both have the component of the ocean and destruction matter to it. The island of Jeju was an active volcanic site for about 5000 years and now is one of the most beautiful places in Korea. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster happened because of an earthquake and tsunami which depicts the relationship between humans and nature. Can we prosper after all the disasters and destructions? What did we impact on this journey? What beauty can this journey behold as time passes by?
The Story it Tells
There are many ways to look at this but the focus here is the relationship among humans, nature, and its inhabitants. The turtle skin on fragmented body parts shows our impacts on the animals. The fragmented body parts flowing as islands can be deemed as beautiful yet mysterious because they could also reveal deaths. For instance, the deaths of humans and animals due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster due to the earthquake and tsunami. Meanwhile, Jeju volcanic island with time has persevered to be one of the most beautiful places in Korea. This examines the connections between the fragility and strength of life among nature, humans, and other inhabitants.