Dive In 2023
Pigment print, framed with recycled water-textured glass
60 x 40 cm
Pigment print, framed with recycled water-textured glass
60 x 40 cm
This photography series explores the complex interplay between the Asian female body and her identity in Asian and Western societies. Focusing on a South Korean woman who escaped unsafe and unequal circumstances, the series delves into the challenges she encounters in coming to terms with her Asian identity within a Western cultural context. In each image, the woman is portrayed wearing the traditional Korean clothing known as Hanbok that, due to its short and ill-fitting appearance, symbolizes her displacement and marginalization of her home country. Simultaneously, these images depict fragments of the Asian female body, serving as a representation of a female immigrant who is met with unwelcoming attitudes within her own society. Furthermore, the series addresses the persistence of outdated stereotypes imposed upon Asian women in the Western world. The presence of water in the photographs serves as a metaphor for the deep-rooted clichés surrounding Asian women in Western society. The collision of these various factors results in a sense of suffocation, symbolizing the overwhelming pressure and struggle experienced by the protagonist.
The curator May Alqaydi’s insightful words capture the essence of Yela An’s work, Dive In, and its exploration of identity. Her full text follows:
In this series of photographs, Yela An explores the complexities of belonging and alienation and the fractures that arise while navigating the complex terrain of cultural identity.
Submerged in water while wearing a hanbok—traditionally custom-made to fit its wearer—Yela An transforms the garment into a potent symbol of estrangement. The ill-fitting hanbok, found unexpectedly in an Austrian second-hand shop, embodies the dislocation and misalignment she feels navigating between two worlds. Its improper fit, mirrors her own experience of not quite belonging, both in South Korea and Austria.
Water, typically a symbol of fluidity and renewal, takes on a more paradoxical role in this work— both nurturing and suffocating. It reflects the emotional tension of existing between two worlds that neither fully accept nor reject her, yet each imposes its expectations. Yela An’s submersion in water evokes the oppressive weight of cultural stereotypes and societal pressures, particularly the reductive perceptions of Asian women in Western societies. The glass, with its subtle flaws— scratches, bubbles, and irregularities—echoes these ruptures, embodying the fragmented experience of diaspora.
The convergence of the submerged body, constricting hanbok, and the unsettling presence of water form a powerful visual language of alienation. Yela An does not merely depict cultural dissonance; she inhabits it, inviting the viewer into this liminal space where identity is neither fixed nor fully recognized. Her work transcends the personal to offer a broader commentary on the fluid nature of identity, the limitations of cultural symbols to capture the fullness of belonging, and the profound psychological toll of living in-between.
Submerged in water while wearing a hanbok—traditionally custom-made to fit its wearer—Yela An transforms the garment into a potent symbol of estrangement. The ill-fitting hanbok, found unexpectedly in an Austrian second-hand shop, embodies the dislocation and misalignment she feels navigating between two worlds. Its improper fit, mirrors her own experience of not quite belonging, both in South Korea and Austria.
Water, typically a symbol of fluidity and renewal, takes on a more paradoxical role in this work— both nurturing and suffocating. It reflects the emotional tension of existing between two worlds that neither fully accept nor reject her, yet each imposes its expectations. Yela An’s submersion in water evokes the oppressive weight of cultural stereotypes and societal pressures, particularly the reductive perceptions of Asian women in Western societies. The glass, with its subtle flaws— scratches, bubbles, and irregularities—echoes these ruptures, embodying the fragmented experience of diaspora.
The convergence of the submerged body, constricting hanbok, and the unsettling presence of water form a powerful visual language of alienation. Yela An does not merely depict cultural dissonance; she inhabits it, inviting the viewer into this liminal space where identity is neither fixed nor fully recognized. Her work transcends the personal to offer a broader commentary on the fluid nature of identity, the limitations of cultural symbols to capture the fullness of belonging, and the profound psychological toll of living in-between.
This project is supported by Kunstraum St. Virgil in Salzburg, Austria.