Fine Art nominee

My first photography work “Like Ants” (2019) attempted to depict myself as ants. I have difficulties in communications with others for Autism Spectrum Disorder and Learning Disorder, and it made my work introverted. It is my encounter with Japan-born Korean 2.5 generation hip-hop musician Funi who brought me a chance to seriously face with others. Funi was born between Japan-born Korean second generation father and Chang Yong-suk, his mother who migrated to Japan in 1980s from South Korea. Funi received a strict upbringing by his mother, and he thinks it aroused him a rebellious spirit. Japan-born Koreans called ‘Zainichi’ are descendent of Koreans who migrated or forced to move to Japan during colonial period, and often becomes target of racism in contemporary Japan. We are both like ants who are often stepped on by others without being realized. Although, we are both like ants huddling together through odor sensing systems. In this work, I focused on the ‘smell’ to describe intersections among various minority groups and sought for an alternative understanding of our living world.

Animation works

2007 Boku no machi"My Town" (Animated films)
2007 Image Forum Festival 2007 *Encouragement Award (Japan)
2007 Vancouver International Film Festival *Apocalyptic (and other) Anim (Canada)
2008 Calgary International Film Festival *An Animator's World Short (Canada)
2013 EXPERIMENTA *SPECIAL FOCUS – JAPAN: THE SHADOW WORLD (India)

2008 Ari"Ants" (Animated films)
2009 55th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen *International Competition (Germany)
2009~2010 Les Rencontres Internationales (France) (Spain) (Germany)

2014 Tenshi Modoki"Mock Angel" (Animated films)
2015 45 Tampere Film Festival *International Competition (Finland)
2015 34th Uppsala International Short Film Festival *International Competition (Sweden)
2016 Interfilm 32nd International Short Film Festival Berlin *International Competition (Germany)
2015 Okayama Art and Culture Award *Second Prize (Japan)
2017 Fukutake Culture Encouragement Award (Japan)

Photographic works

2019 Ari no youna "Like Ants"
2019 Canon’sNew Cosmos of Photography 2019 *Grand Prize (Japan)
2020 Okayama Art and Culture Award *Second Prize (Japan)

2020 Ants
2020 Solo Exhibition　(Tokyo Photographic Art Museum)

A home for the hermit crab
2022 LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2022 *Jurors’ Pick
2023 20 years International Photography Awards *Official Selection
2023 LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2023 *Jurors’Pick

Ants Plus “Funi”
2023 LensCulture Critics'Choice 23 *Critics' Pick
2023 20 years International Photography Awards Deeper Perspective *Honorable