Headlands Center for the Arts

Artist Statement

Through staged photography and photo-sculptures, I investigate the process by which the capitalist system shapes personal identity, class consciousness, and decision-making. The old promise of hard-work and a job fails to grant a secure nor fulfilling life. Against the backdrop of socio-economic inequality, people are enslaved by a profit-driven society. Digital photography, mesh-like printable fabric, resin, and a grotesque aesthetic are employed in my work to represent the idea of the social fabric. I want to use my works to document the downside of specialization and alienation on a personal level.

While at Headlands

I will expand my ongoing project, 21 Grams-The Weight of Souls, in which I interview and photograph people who left previous professions to work as an artist. I intend to create an exhaustive catalog of the faces and untold stories of the middle class. This series aims to highlight the power of art and reflect on the internal conflicts of people who choose a non-traditional path. I want to further explore how different socio-economic systems affect collective behavior with inspiration from the international and multidisciplinary community at Headlands. I also want to better utilize the content of interviews in my visual work by examining the possibility of incorporating sound and writing to push my practice to the next level.

Selected Video

Kacy Jung, Free will is an illusion, 2020; performance, 1 min. 13 sec.