Kidnapped Adoptee and Transgender... The 'Confessions' of Two Artists

‘All About Love: Gwak Youngjun & Jang Sejin’
At Arko Art Center, Dongsung-dong until July 17
Deconstructing gender roles, racial prejudice, and authority

Sacred Kiss, 2021, rhinestones, glitter, resin, pigment wax, hanging object, 38 x 64 x 18 cm. By Gwak Youngjun. Photo by Arko Art Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] “Though my parents have forsaken me, the Lord will receive me.”

This sentence from Psalm 27:10 in the Bible is engraved on the baby box prepared by Jusarang Community Church in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. South Korea, which recorded the lowest total fertility rate of 0.84 among OECD countries, is also ranked third worldwide in overseas adoption according to ISS (International Social Service) statistics. The government has introduced various policies to respond to the approaching ‘population disaster,’ but according to the ‘2021 Birth and Death Statistics’ announced by Statistics Korea, the number of births last year was 260,500, a 4.3% decrease from the previous year (272,300).

Amid the declining birth rate and the increasing number of Korean children adopted overseas, an artist’s confession that they were ‘kidnapped and adopted’ draws attention. The Arko Art Center, under the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, is holding a special invitational exhibition titled “All About Love: Kwak Youngjun & Jang Sejin (Sarah van der Heide)” until July 17.

Jang Sejin (Sarah van der Heide) was adopted to the Netherlands during infancy. The artist, who harbored curiosity about their different skin color and homeland Korea during their upbringing, confronts the reality of ‘kidnapped adoption’ while tracing their adoption process to find their birth mother.

Mother Mountain Spirit (Sanshin) Device, 2017_, motor, plaster, papier-m?ch?, panel, sound, drawing, text, variable installation. By Jang Sejin (Hara van der Heide). Photo by Arko Art Center

Focusing on the imperialistic customs behind international adoption between different races, the artist presents works that critically reflect on this issue. Through the stories of two mothers who had to send their children overseas for adoption against their will, the artist questions, “Why did the adopting countries fail to prevent children from being separated from their mothers and alienated from their homeland?”

The artist’s concerns, which began with international adoption, extend to forming new communities by connecting with neighbors encountered on the margins of society, such as immigrants, refugees, and sexual minorities. Through their artistic work, the artist pursues a spiritual practice that restores lost humanity in the violent international adoption process that disregards human rights and heals inner wounds.

Hermaphroditos Exposed II, 2017, fiberglass fabric, resin, epoxy clay, silver foil, paint, 99 x 61 x 18 cm. By Kwak Youngjun. Photo by Arko Art Center

Co-invited artist Kwak Youngjun is a second-generation Korean American transgender immigrant who poses provocative questions about patriarchal perspectives in a heterosexual-centered society through his existence. He boldly responds to the violence of othering with queer gestures in his sculptures and video works. In his art, the body is expressed as a political space where individual identity and social norms constantly collide and cannot be defined by conventional societal standards.

The artist defines “identity as not fixed but constantly changing and fluid through imagination.” His imagination settles into an expansion of consciousness and artistic practice that embraces differences in gender and race, as well as bodies marginalized by patriarchal views.

Lying Hermaphroditus, 2017, fiberglass, resin, acrylic, transparent acrylic spray, 175 x 61 x 33 cm. By Gwak Youngjun. Photo by Arko Art Center

Both artists deconstruct binary definitions of gender and sexual roles, racial categories, Western-centered historical narratives, and patriarchal authority. Furthermore, through their works, they demonstrate artistic practices that confront discrimination and violence, fostering community love based on empathy and solidarity, and healing wounds.

The exhibition runs until July 17 at the Arko Art Center in Dongsung-dong, Seoul.