Daieny Chin

My work focuses on bridging the gaps of culture, religion, and spoken familial history that were affected by the process of being a first-generation Korean-American immigrant. Bold figures fill up the canvas space, layered in vividly colored brush strokes, it invites viewers to be immersed in an unassuming and colorful background. When coming closer to the painting, viewers are confronted with unexpected objects, animal figures that may or may not exist, and surrealist backgrounds. Through this visual language, fantastical narratives are created that reflect both personal and collective experiences of the Korean-American diaspora, while illuminating the complexities of identity and heritage. Like many first-generation immigrants, there exists a language barrier where family histories, cultural traditions, and basic spoken words are lost due to the efforts of assimilating into the Western world, further perpetuating the diaspora. Through painting, I create my narratives based on my family history where I link mythology, spirituality, and reality. The figures are representative of the matriarchs of my family, and they often are immersed with both animals based on Korean mythology and animals native to the Americas. There lies an interweaving of using symbolism, such as snakes and goat-like figures, that reflects the imageries used in my family’s Evangelical Christian background, yet honors dynamics of Korean Shamanism, the indigenous religion of Korea, which was almost eradicated during the colonization of Korea by Japan. It brings questions such as how do I navigate the nuances of reusing important Korean artifacts and artwork as a way to reclaim my heritage to make sense of my multifaceted identity. Through painting, I create new questions and search for these answers as my artistic practice evolves.