About Sorokdo Insel
The island of Sorokdo, located in the south of South Korea, is a beautiful island that resembles a "small deer." Since the Japanese occupation, people suffering from leprosy have been living in isolation on this island. During the occupation, individuals who were forcibly relocated to Sorokdo were separated from their families, subjected to forced labor, and used for medical experiments. For them, this island was like an inescapable prison. Some attempted to flee by swimming across the sea but lost their lives in the process.
In 2011, I visited this island to participate in volunteer work. Even though 70 years had passed since South Korea's liberation from Japan, people affected by leprosy were still living on the island. Although they had the possibility to leave, they chose to stay, remaining isolated from society. On the island, there was a history museum dedicated to Sorokdo, which still bore witness to the pain of the past. There were remnants of a prison and beds that had been used for medical experiments on leprosy patients.
Despite the island’s natural beauty and the warmth of its residents, who were always smiling, I felt a deep sense of loneliness and oppression rather than happiness. I sought to understand why they could not leave the island and discovered the societal prejudices and discrimination against people with leprosy, as well as the judgmental gazes of others.
This realization led me to create artworks that explore the desire of these individuals to break free from society’s gaze and the confines imposed upon them.
2015
Video installation, color, stereo sound
Hansung Universtity
Seoul
3 minutes
There were people living in a kingdom where the flowers were full and the animals were playing
In my third work, I created a story about people living in a beautiful place who are unable to leave it. In the video piece, a person who appears like a puppet can be seen.