We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jiwoo Shin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jiwoo, appreciate you joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

I wrote a “poem” for a class for my final semester in undergrad, and the title goes like this: ‘How to disappear (with me)’

It’s not exactly in the conventional format of a so-called poem but it has no lies or fabrications of what I want to say… and I think that is enough. I learned that the more I took ‘pride’ in my writing, the harder it became to write freely, even when I’m simply journaling (for no one else to see) it became a chore to write every sentence as eloquently and aesthetically pleasing to all the senses as possible. It was such a great joy of mine to purge out words from the enormous gulp of congested emotions inside; so what happened?

I guess it all kind of goes back to (one of) my identity being a ‘model minority’: the bilingual Asian. I never really acknowledged that I could just be viewed as my just my racial features until I became a young adult living outside of my home country — having to go back and forth on the idea of wanting to break free from the concept of ‘nationality’ and this strange yet deep desire to wanting to belong and be a ‘part’ of something, somewhere. I don’t even feel like I belong to myself sometimes. But I’ve come to realize it’s not really about where I was born or where I’m living, I’ll feel like that (alone, misunderstood, wandering…) as long as I stay true to who I am, wherever I am — people are quite literally very strange all around. There are good and ‘bad’ people everywhere. Although I think those ‘bad’ people just need some serious therapy or a good teacher/ mentor to set their morals straight and assess their insecurities. But heck, have I gotten f-ed over by some counselors/therapists/psychiatrists — yet who assesses them? It’s brutal out here! But the point is, there ARE good people everywhere. If there isn’t where you are at the moment, you can be the first.

The saddest moments for me are every time I put faith into one’s humanity and it only backfires to just trusting my own humanity — I can’t really change people but I can only change how I react to it; therefore the real ‘loss’ is if I succumb to the nature of those who find joy in ridiculing , demeaning, bullying others to feel better about themselves. Becoming one of them would be the ultimate suicide, for me. Like I shared my story of getting bullied in my adolescence in my first interview, I’ve actually learned to even become grateful for that ‘experience’ because I know how much it hurts and ruins one’s entire essence of being, completely.
I mean, aren’t there historic evidence of insecure bullies “growing up” and leading genocides?
Can’t really give them the power of being evil or whatever, because they’re just… pathetic, insecure bullies who used fear to control a certain part of human nature. Nothing more.
As humans, we are extremely complex yet simple beings. We can be coerced and hoaxed into believing anything if we’re forced to hear it enough — however just because a false information is repeated, it doesn’t make that true.

This is why I find solace in art, especially cinema. “Life imitates Art” (Oscar Wilde) and “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” (Cesar A. Cruz). Cinema is where an individual experience of being a human comes together, evoking empathy, sometimes as a bystander, sometimes as a judge; it IS that universal language that we all speak.

Jiwoo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My main practice is crafting my own visual language through my psyche, such as dreams, which I understand is a very personal matter. I’ve also been using Biblical references into my work for over a decade, ever since I started painting. I didn’t really know why I did that until I expanded my artistic pursuits, and started making films of my own, which gave me a sense of liberation than just a static image of symbolic gestures of some wounded psyche or something temporarily exhibited like an installation piece. Yet I cannot let any of these mediums go, because they’re like a family, not competing enemies. All different but same languages. As for film, I believe that the film should do the talking, not the director or anything outside of the film itself (this is a very ambitious goal I’ve set for myself).

In a sense the mission is to tell a story; it may be vague or abstract to some, but it will hit right home to those who get it. I find it a little prudish of me to over explain the content behind my creations because the honest truth is, I make things to understand myself better. I think the viewers give more meaning to it that I could ever articulate it myself. I also like to think that I’m giving them a sense of freedom to interpret whatever is being shown to them. My work is quite extreme in every aspect, and I understand how that might be forceful to the feeble minded, so I take every review with a grain of salt; however people have been generously keen of my world so far and I’m so grateful for that. But I will defend my babies if it is being overtly scrutinized instead of being felt.

In 2023, I had my 3rd solo show ‘Feel Free to Feel Ill’ where I exhibited 2 films and 4 installations, which started from an idea of this ‘Artificial Paradise’, and succumbing to my desires of understanding God and the sickness I feel towards loving love too much, with a heavy emphasis on Mother Mary, Hell, Angels, Death, and Sex. Oh and Love. It was a big show, and it was a challenge, but my God was it fulfilling! I intend to keep working through such iconographical tendencies — after all the Bible is the best selling book of all time so like I said about the universal language, it is a story we all know. I also find it to be a story about the loss of a Mother; alas the universal love, unconditional love: the motherly love.
I have been writing, directing, editing, producing and scoring for all of my experimental films by myself but I would like to expand and collaborate a lot more. I’ve been experimenting recently on collaborating with A.I. as well, and it’s a lot of fun — although I’d be lying if I felt a little intimidated by its super duper mojo dojo intelligence (but not anymore!). I also enjoy the switch of perspective when I am in front of the camera and becoming a spectacle. It is a very strange feeling…

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I mean, as an ‘artist’ if I don’t question the concept of everything and anything I think THAT would make me a phony haha. I don’t ever want to be a phony, like, ever (Holden Caulfield you taught me that word a long time ago, hope you’re doing well somewhere, somehow.)

I’m pretty open about my “vulnerabilities” as in my struggle with depression, and other illnesses I’d rather not specify here etc., because it is a part of who I am. Integrating my Shadow so to speak (Love you, Carl Jung xoxo) — I started to feel shameful about my susceptiveness towards my melancholia and intensity towards understanding Life and Death and God (Why? Because it makes me a “difficult” woman, I suppose?). The truth is that I think about death all the time because I take life very seriously, and I fear of not living ‘properly’… but who’s to say.

“Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Cold or warm. Tired or well-rested. Despised or honored. Dying…or busy with other assignments. Because dying, too, is one of our assignments in life.” Marcus Aurelius said it nicely — so I think I’m doing a good job living.

He also said,
“Similarly, man is born for deeds of kindness; and when he has done a kindly action, or otherwise served the common welfare, he has done what he was made for, and has received his quittance.”

Kindness is a strength and not a weakness. It may be hard to believe, but I put my faith in kindness as a duty of mankind.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

When I find people who speak my visual language, understand the meaning behind why and how I must do this, whose way of survival is to dream and create, and are compassionate about the struggles that we go through each day to pursue this path. Being loved for the right reasons is very rewarding — although I can’t complain over being loved for any reasons per se, it would be nice to return the favor to those who gave me grace and mercy in times of need.

Contact Info:

• Website: amorcaeliveritas.com