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Ever since I could hold a pencil, I was a habitual doodler. I’d doodle on napkins, paper bags, desktops (and spent many recesses cleaning desks as a reward for my creations) – you name it. I have a few of my old grade school and high school notebooks and the margins are virtually covered in scribbles and drawings.
I started making custom Converse out of necessity more than anything else. I’m a Converse collector and I wear them frequently. I have over 30 pair, however here in Canada, the really funky designs are difficult to come by and they tend to be expensive. One day I thought to myself ‘Why not just make my own Converse?’. And so I did. And they were terrible. BUT . . . they were’nt terrible enough to deter me from trying again. And again. And again. It took a few tries but I managed to work out some kinks in my approach (black sucks as a base colour and Sharpies run if you get them wet without sealing them first, for example). Soon, armed with an assortment of fabric pens, fabric paint and brushes, Sharpies and Mod Podge (for sealing the ink and rendering it water resistant), I was whipping out shoes faster than a bunch of rabid monkeys at a podiatrist convention (I dunno what that means – remember when I said things whirl through my head? That was one of them).
The process is relatively simple. I draw out the design on the shoe, and then simply start painting. Recently I’ve been experimenting with 3D designs with relative success. I have a pair of Spider-Man/Venom shoes that have black goop attacking the Spidey image and a Ghostbusters pair that have been slimed with ectoplasm. I also have a Freddy Krueger shoe that is ripped and torn, exposing Freddy’s signature singed flesh below the green and red striped fabric. I’ve also managed to get a few of these designs into the hands of some celebrities – Henry Winkler, John Schneider, Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters, Dave Thomas from Bob and Dough MacKenzie and SCTV, and Lou Ferrigno.
1. BatVillain – I’m a huge Batman fan (I have a room in my home dedicated solely to The Dark Knight). These were one of my early attempts with fabric markers. They turned out pretty well, I think.
Cut paper is a medium deeply rooted in history and tradition. In this way, I hope to modernize this cut paper medium. Light and shadow is also important in my work. The light transforms the two-dimensional paper by creating a shadow. The shadow indicates space, which allows the piece to become three-dimensional. These pieces are all cut from a single sheet of paper with an exacto blade.
1. This piece titled Rice Husband is one of three hand cut paper pieces about superstitions that my mother told me. I draw inspiration from my Korean background and upbringing and juxtapose these cultural symbols with more contemporary imagery. This particular one is about how my mother told me to finish every single grain of rice at every meal. If I didn’t, each grain that I left behind will become a physical mark on my future husband’s face.
