Which Side do you Stand For?

Author Statement and Bio:
In Kim’s photograph series titled ‘Which Side do you Stand For?’, these two images represent views of two opposing sides. No matter what the issues are at hand in any disagreement it is never as black and white as it may seem. These days we are bombarded by the media to see it from one point of view or another when really there is a lot of gray areas that is missed in translation. This photographic series is not about what side is right or wrong but taking a stand on the line of the gray area to have an open mind and hear out the opposing sides perspective.

In the modern world, plastic is everywhere, from trash bins to the ocean. Inspired by an ecobrick construction project that took place in the Mariposa Foundation in the Dominican Republic, this project titled ‘The Modern Respiratory System’ visualizes humans’ dependency on plastic products and the consequences of the toxic situation regarding plastic waste. The oxygen tank shaped ecobrick structure delivers a message that we humans of the modern age, oftentimes fail to see what is contained in the plastic bottles we effortlessly consume. These failures eventually return to us in forms of microplastic in the water, air, and even in the food we consume.

Min Seung Kim is a 17-year-old student studying at Lawrenceville School in the USA. She loves to experiment with art. She enjoys painting, drawing, and photography but currently focuses on creating art pieces by applying to daily objects around life. Min Seung loves nature and animals so that these humanities subjects are always shown on her artworks. She believes that art is a tool for her to see the world. Therefore, she wants to pursue her study in art practice and art theory based on humanities in the future. Her artworks won several art and design regional awards including a finalist of Genius Olympiad 2020 in Mixed media, a silver medalist of 2020 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a Finalist of 2019 Fall/Winter Spark Student Design Award, a high merit recipient of 2019 Spring Celebrating Art Contest. Also, one of her artworks published in Issue 13 of Split Rock Review in 2019 and several artworks were in group exhibitions titled ‘On Our Minds, In Our Futures 2019, 2019 the 4th PASA festival, and 2019 Project Chungrok in Korea.