Honorable Mention Artist: Chuck and Chelsea (by Louise Kim and Michelle Yoon)
Statement:
Dreams and fantasies are the motor that drives us, of which people constantly seek to gain inspiration and new direction for their lives. Our art focuses on expressing our personal fantasies and/or adorations that are spread throughout popular culture, mass media, and fashion. However, the same fantasies make us realize the reality. The other side of the coin, which is where most of the items of yearning are out of our financial reach. As people who live in the greatest capitalistic country in the world, we cannot help but to feel that we are constantly being manipulated by commercialism. We always strive to own newer and better things by being stimulated with inundating advertisements. This is why our works often appropriates advertisements or emulates commercial photography. Our photographs are completely staged, from costumes to poses, just as any advertisements would be. We strive to express our ambivalent feelings of yearning and discontent through juxtaposing cute characters in recognizable brands.
“Chuck and Chelsea“ are two anthropomorphic dog characters who we have created to express our dreams and fantasies in our stead. They are the embodiment of our life, experiences and ultimately a brand that will be the core of a certain culture that represents a certain image and aesthetics. Chuck and Chelsea are the “cool” figures who can take things beyond our capacity.
Bio:
Louise Kim is a Canadian artist of a Korean decent who works mainly in the medium of photography. Recently, she received a MFA degree in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, and currently lives and works in New York City. In May 2012, Louise had her solo thesis exhibition at Pratt’s Steuben South Gallery titledUnleashed.
Michelle Yoon was born in Korea and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She has recently graduated with honors in Fashion Design from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Michelle is active in the industry, and currently works as a full time assistant designer at a major US fashion corporation in the city.