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Eunkang Koh is a Korean book artist and printmaker. She teaches printmaking at the University of Nevada in Reno.
Eunkang Koh, Perception, 2007. Mixed media, 7 x 7 inches (cover). Courtesy of the artist.The human condition has been the main source of motivation in my art. I draw from the human circumstances that flourish between reality and perception. Born and raised in Korean myth culture and adopting Buddhist philosophy, I assume that the world we are living in is not real. It is merely an illusion that we perceive. I doubt that there is anything like “truth” in the sense that most people do.
We believe that humans are at the top of the hierarchy in our ecological system. We are trained to behave and pretend in a specific way to fit into mainstream society. Yet, we are more like animals than we think we are. What many of us do not realize is that we have animal instincts. Like animals, we want to eat, excrete, protect ourselves, and sometimes, attack others.
When we regard the physical manifestations of the world as true, they can be seductive because we see and feel them. I see these “facts” as illusions. We are programmed to see certain images rather than what is real. Instead, I choose to create my own reality within this context. My images are a way for me to see the reality of the human world without any pretense. I choose to depict human society through metaphor and satire.
My imagery combines human and animal features in a process that is in line with my philosophical outlook. The hybrids in my work exhibit real animal features of the world that we live in, but do so without the pretense that human behavior is altogether different from animal behavior. These hybrids express the absurdity of the human world. They enact ironic gestures that are both humorous and grotesque at the same time. They are symbolic of dimwitted humans who choose not to see anything beyond the “facts” that they are taught.
