Character + Toy Art

Whataitai and Dragon Kim

Medium: Laser Cut Plywood, Acrylic paint

Dimensions: 11.5 x 10 x 4.5 in, 11 x 11 x 3 in

These two wooden toys are based on my recreation story of the Wellington harbour Maori mythology and the racism that happened when Somes island was used as a human quarantine station.

As the story goes, there was Whataitai, a New Zealand dragon stuck in the harbor. In 1903, Chinese greengrocer Kim Lee was suspected of having leprosy and was isolated on Mokopuna Island, north of Somes island. Kim was isolated from other suspected leprosy people society as people did not want to stay with an Asian. Kim died after 2 years of solitude in a cave alone. Later, it was found that he even did not have leprosy.

My recreation story based on these two stories is that Kim was actually an Asian dragon visiting Whataitai because he was worried about Whataitai after he got news that Whataitai was stuck on the island alone. However, people thought he was Chinese just because he looked different from them.

Journey of Dragon Kim in Korea

Journey of Dragon Kim _Conventional Wallpaper

I wanted to show how wall covering design can foster an enjoyable education environment.

I used Dragon Kim, an Asian dragon I designed, as a main character of the wall paper. This wallpaper design is inspired by current political events in my home country, Korea. My design draws on the symbolic meaning of the peninsula, the tiger, and incorporates elements from Korea’s dynastic cultural heritage.

This work was displayed in Coca Massey in New Zealand as a featured work.

Journey of Dragon Kim _Unconventional Wallpaper

To contrast the conventional wallpaper, these unconventional wallpapers suggest people to decorate their wall quickly with less effort for those who cannot change the whole wallpaper in their place.

I printed different designs on different types of fabric materials and put them in the embroidery loop so that they could be hung on the wall easily. In addition to this convenience, due to the fast change of trends, people can change the design in the frame whenever they want to and even decorate their wall with their creativity. With the wooden Dragon Kim, they can color it based on their preferences.

Suminosaur

3D modeled in Zbrush

Rendered in Keyshot

Copyrighted Character Design

JJack Kkung

Mission Statement:

Since the Korean War in 1950, Korea has been divided into two nations.

Due to this state, more than 300,000 South Koreans have had their family separated in North Korea, and have not been able to meet. Since it’s been more than 66 years, more than half of the people who had their family separated have now passed away.

Since I had a grandfather who dedicated his life to finding his long-lost family trapped in North Korea until the day he passed away, I want to convey the sorrow felt by Korean people because of our division, and how the border separating us was once nonexistent through the creation of this toy project.

Padi and Pudi

Miró Puzzle

2019-2020

3D modeled in SolidWorks and Rendered in KeyShot

This is the first sensory kit I made during my internship at the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Sensory Kit suggests different ways to enjoy the museum through sight, touch, and smell for a broader audience including older people, people with impaired vision, and other people with different abilities.

For the first project, I focused on touch. I chose to make a puzzle inspired by Joan Miró’s painting, Figures with Stars. By touching the puzzle, people would know what figures are in the painting without seeing it. They can disassemble them and make their own geometric-shaped figures. This portable puzzle connects the museum collection and the creativity of attendees regardless of the ability.

Future Entomologists

2018

33 x 4 in

Illustrated in Procreate and Photoshop, Printed on paper

This is a mini-comic book about a common misunderstanding of Entomology, the scientific study of insects.

Many commercial Forensic movies and TV shows have shown us, scientists, figuring out the estimated time of murder by observing insects on dead bodies. Because of this, many people, including me, thought insects can tell scientists the time of murder. But actually, the presence of different kinds of insects on dead bodies tells us the length of time a body has been at that location.

Through this mini-comic book, I wanted to convey information to people in a more accessible way with my illustration.

The Perfect Presentation

2018

Illustrated in Procreate and Photoshop. Pages arranged in Photoshop.

This is a six-page illustration from collaborative class work with Lift Education in New Zealand for their upcoming student magazine called School Journal. Based on the script they provided me, I made an illustration corresponding to the content. My key roles for this project were character design, background design, and page arrangement based on my deep research of the targeted audience (children aged eight to nine years old), New Zealand sports, diverse culture, and edible bugs.

Written by Leonie Agnew

Illustrated by Sumin Kim

Sumin Kim X Radio Flyer Senior Walker

3D modelled in SolidWorks

Rendered in KeyShot

Why do walkers for older people look so plain and boring? Even though walkers for younger people are playful, informative, and make users seem adventurous? Starting from this question, I designed a walker for older people, especially for people living with Alzheimer's, to bring more color into their lives.

I chose Radio Flyer as a hypothetical collaborative partner. Radio Flyer is a Chicago-based toy company well-known for their wagons and ride-ons targeting young children. As Radio Flyer is a big toy company, I thought older people would feel more cared for if a big amount of people in a big company are dedicated to making a walker for them, even though they are not an usual target for design industries.

Adam and Eve

What Happened in Genesis

Ceramics

My intention for this project was to show people how situations can look different from different perspectives.

The Bible only summarizes what happened in the Garden of Eden from one perspective. However, I believe we would see the whole situation differently if the Bible provided other stories from different perspectives.

What if the snake was a couple counselor, so Eve relied on him? What if Eve and Adam looked identical so we could not distinguish their genders based on their appearance? What if Adam and Eve were apes? What if the fruit kept provoking Eve, so Eve bit the fruit? What if the real reason God kicked Eve and Adam out of the garden was they were blaming each other instead of embracing each other? This funny little imagination inspired me to start making this project. Through this artwork, I wanted to suggest a diverse view not only of the Bible but also of our lives with others. The most important thing in our lives is loving each other

Dr. Snake, the Couple Therapist

Tea Time at the Cliff

This is an illustration based on my museum art therapy experience based on the practice called Witness Writing, developed by Pat Allen from the active imagination work of C.G. Jung.

In the Art Institute of Chicago, I chose Monet’s painting called Cliff Walk at Pourville, and started a conversation with the figure on the left wearing a pale-yellow hat with a ribbon in my imagination. Even though all of this happened in my head, I felt like I talked to a therapist, but in reality, the therapist was me. This special experience suggested to me the strength of self-directed art therapy practice in museums.