I explore gender fluidity in my art, assuming a fictional identity as a female, although I am mostly a straight Asian male, who occasionally fantasizes about becoming a woman. My life is a struggle between two wolves inside of me—the aggressive and angry, and the gentle and beautiful sides of my personality. While I often feed the former rather than the latter, I recognize the immense merits of soft power and the beauty of femininity. My art contrasts the logic of domination that is the core logical basis of patriarchy (oppression of women) and the oppression of colored people, queer people, and nature. While I usually thirst for greater power in order to “win” and “defeat” enemies—real or imagined—and evil itself, I also appreciate the beauty of femininity and the vulnerability of human sexuality. I imagine myself as the beautiful and feminine other through composite images in which I, a male, turn into a woman or an androgynous being. This middle ground is a fertile spot for de-otherization and subverting the logic of domination, which enables every form of oppression and inequality on Earth since the dawn of history. It takes greater courage and power to put oneself in the vulnerable position of beauty and self-expression. I believe that is the real purpose for human existence, not domination and oppression. —Chunbum Park
