Hyun-jin Kwak graduated with BFA from Hongik University, Korea, and currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Through her long sojourn in Sweden, Kwak has been exploring the ethnicity gap between Korea and Sweden and applying this to her work. The school uniform, which forms and regulates the collective, generally connotes a sense of uniformity, equality, fairness and nationality. Kwak explores the secrets of the school girls through their school uniform, as well as their own common lifestyle and reasons for existence. The girls in school uniforms in Kwak’s photographs seem to be sharing a common secret with each other. However, in the beautiful background, the girls emit an aura of violence and melancholia rather than cheerfulness. The artist explains that this reflects the means of survival in the contemporary society where one is constantly facing others as their competitors. Situated somewhere between Korea’s collective society and Sweden’s individualism, Kwak’s works shed a light on the value system of adolescents today and reflect the social structure and collectivity of East and West.
