Jihyun Park

Chinatown Map is an incense sculpture of a three-dimensional map of Philadelphia's Chinatown. Traditional red incense was used for this work, and the map is in the shape of the Chinese character for "Middle Kingdom." The line through the middle of the map represents the Vine Street Expressway, a project that split Chinatown North from the rest of Chinatown.

Chicken Broccoli consists of ten to fifteen hand-painted cast resin figures of bonsai-like broccolis with chickens, installed on shelves in a real bonsai shop. This work reflects the irony that "chicken broccoli," a staple on Chinese takeout menus across the United States, was actually invented here in America. Jihyun Park creates an imaginary world with realistic chickens and broccolis to parody what is commonly thought of as "chicken broccoli."

Interview

Please explain the process you used for creating your piece (materials used, major steps).

My project consists of 'Chicken & Broccoli ' bonzai sculpture installations and 'Red incense Chinatown Map' sculpture. 10 to 15 'Chicken & Broccoli ' sculptures will be made by casting resin and a bonzai pot. And I'm going to install my 'Chicken & Broccoli ' at a bonzai shop store front on shelves. Also, 'Red incense Chinatown Map' sculpture will be made by red incense and suspended from the ceiling in the gallery space.

How did you come up with the concept for your piece?
a. How did the retreats help you develop your concept?
b. b. How did seeing Chinatown and talking to Chinatown residents affect you rconcept for the piece?

Chicken Broccoli:
When I went to a Chinatown restaurant alone, I found an interesting menu item called 'Chicken & Broccoli '. I've heard that Chicken & Broccoli is the most popular dish on the Chinese take out menu. But this Chinese dish does not exist in China. It was born in the West as a Chinese style. Does it mean that Chicken & Broccoli is a western food? I present this kind of ironic situation with my question that captures from daily life in my work. Images and language are deconstructed and then reconstructed in my work. I am creating an imaginary world with realistic mediums such as foods, languages, and animals.

I want to present an unrealistic space that parodies realistic life forms. Therefore I will use in part a stage setting temporally built, bonsai as a form of miniaturized nature, and a traditional oriental painting style to present a fantastic landscape.

Chinatown Map:
This project is like my other incense project 'Manhattan Downtown Map' created as part of my participation in LMCC Residency Program. The incense project presents the past, present, and future of certain area based on the specialty of the site and symbolic meaning of incense. People burn incense as part of a ceremony or for a desire for something. In 'Chinatown Map,' I'd like to contain the desire or wish meaning. Also, I got idea of this work during the retreat. Most people in Chinatown wish to expand their area to the north. After that I was surprised when I looked at the map. For me, the shape of Chinatown Map is the same as the Chinese character for "Middle Kingdom." This character has a lot of meanings in Asia such as middle, important, process, inside, and heart. So, I decided to visualize the meaning of this character by using red incense and the real Chinatown Map for this work.

How does your piece fit with the goals for In/flux ?
Why did you choose to be part of an art exhibit in Chinatown?

Currently, English, as my second language, is one of the important topics portrayed in my work. After my immigration to the United States, this new language has made me an alien, and presented me with a new point of view. I'm asking through my twisted language works, 'Where we came from', 'Where we are', 'Why we are here?' I'd like to present these kinds of questions to the public in my In/flux projects.

Did the process of creating your piece (retreats) change your perception of Chinatown?
Did you make any relationships with people in Chinatown or generally with the community?

I met a lot of people in Chinatown generally. I look at their lifestyles and heard their different or common voices. Those experiences really affected my works. When I started my In/flux project I proposed some of my diorama series. Those works were fake museum projects. During the retreat period my project was changed a little bit. First my plan was to install my dioramas in several shops in Chinatown. I wanted to present my works in a natural way to fit in their community physically and meaningfully. So I decided to use a more significant medium and structure.

How does this work fit with your wider body of work?

This project gave me the chance to expand my point view. I had thought about before this project but I have started to think about relation between world and ourselves.