여운

The passings of my Korean immigrant grandparents profoundly impacted me during my early twenties. Growing up, we crammed into one house and they helped to raise me while my parents worked long days. When I started college and working part-time, I couldn’t visit my family as much as I would have liked to. One ordinary day, my grandpa was struck by a speeding car. A few months later, my seemingly healthy grandma was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and passed away as well.

For a few years, it was almost impossible to think about them without the tragedies. Time has helped me to feel the nuances in the cycle of grieving, forgetting, and remembering. It also helped me to appreciate the small details in the mundane.

여운 (yeo-un) translates to a lingering feeling after an event has passed. This series explores still-life images of whimsical memorabilia, belongings left upon death, childhood symbols, and oddities in nature and in quiet moments.