The art of Seungyea Park (aka, Spunky Zoe) is a meeting with “monstrousness”—that is, the product of our fear as it festers among us. Fear is necessary to social systems because it distinguishes the self from a monstrous Other—the enemy, the freak. “Monsters are everywhere,” Park writes, because we compulsively create them. To help herself understand the true nature of fear, Park uses a combination of acrylic and pen to create grotesque portraits of such “monsters.” Set against white backdrops that emphasize their subjectivity, people with distorting faces confront us, inviting our judgment and expressing their playfulness, indifference, anger, and sorrow. As Park explains, the instant our fear falls away, in a gutting holy moment, we recognize “the ‘I’ outside of me.”

Images © Seungyea Park

Via Between Mirrors