Existing in Costume 1 2007, C-print, 76.2 x 61 cms and 100 x 80 cms
Cinderella 2008, C-print, 180 x 230 cms and 120 x 150 cms, Edition of 3
Existing in Costume was made in response to Chan-Hyo’s feelings of cultural estrangement when he first arrived in the UK. As he says ‘When I was in Korea I had an admiration for Western culture. After arriving in England I began to realise that the relation between Eastern and Western culture was not the upper and lower sides which brought confusion about my identity. … I came to realise that as an Asian man there were many restrictions on entering Western culture. I felt that Asian men were not sexually attractive to Western women. I also believe that there is an unintentional stereotyping … and that the East has a feminine image. That is why I decided to become a noble woman of England. I try to become British just as a child pretends to be a mother by dressing in her clothes and making up with her cosmetics. The child tries to express its own existence as another person. The language of a child. In becoming a British lady, which may seem gauche, it is my language.‘
Chan Hyo Bae
