For this project, I tried to express my current identity as a student who spent the first half of his life in Korea and the rest half in the United States. For the materials, I chose to use 18-gauge aluminum wire, which enables more dedicate control while still maintaining the shape. I originally planned to create my whole body wearing and holding items that represent both Korean and American cultures. I made many sketches, both normal and wire, to arrange my ideas on what kind of the figure I wanted to make. For the left side, I chose to include traditional Korean costumes called Hanbok, which is known for its characteristic hat and stripes. On the right side, I decided to resemble the appearance of the Statue of Liberty to show the importance of freedom within my values. Also, to contrast with Hanbok, I added features from modern style suits with a bow tie around the neck. When I presented my sketches in class, the professor and classmates suggested me to simplify my work since making the whole body in 3D could be time-consuming. With their suggestions, I decided to just make my self-portrait in 2D, simply focusing on the face. I had to eliminate some items like the carrier and the torch, but I still tried to clearly emphasize my topic of the double identities. For example, the left side has an eye made of the Taegeuk symbol, while the right eye has a star from the American flag. With a clearer image in mind, I sketched and viewed the wire face from several different perspectives including the front, back, side, top, and bottom before and after I finalized my model.
