Faculty of Art

Sculpture/Installation

Ashia Jeon

Cherin_01

Thesis Work

“Modularity: the quality of consisting of separate parts that, when combined, form a complete whole (Cambridge Dictionary). For those within the diaspora, there are often sentiments of removal and displacement from whole systems and structures of a culture. In this work, modularity serves as a framework for the diasporic re-assembly of identity. Through the fragmentation and transformation of original architectural structures, the work mirrors lived experiences of cultural displacement and adaptation. It positions traditional Korean architecture as a historically adaptive system rather than a fixed, restrictive hierarchy. Introducing the diasporic condition into these structures does not constitute an opposition to or rupture of this hierarchical cosmology, but rather functions as a continuation of architectural transformation across contexts. Immigration, cultural fragmentation, and the hybrid identity that arises from this become another environmental factor that architecture and aesthetics respond to. Fixed architecture organizes and instructs behaviour, whereas fragmentation, abstraction, and modularity create room for self-governed interpretation, agency, and play. The forms are derived from traditional Korean bracket joinery. These brackets hold support, growth, and expansion, which parallel the diasporic condition of cultural extension, as well as cultural changes and pressures. The work rejects a single correctly fixed orientation, allowing instead for multiple configurations and identities. There is an emphasis on human-activated movement and on the resiliency and adaptability of building traditions by inviting viewers to interact with, disassemble, and reassemble the structures. Constructed using Western building materials and industrial fabrication techniques, the insulation foam functions as an environmental mediator, slowing heat transmission between conditions, and working between the structures, becoming a material metaphor for diaspora. Ultimately, the work proposes that community is what builds and generates adaptive systems.”