Jessica Roh's Artist Statement...

Growing up in closed minded family and unfriendly school environment, I began to associate relationships with characters in Japanese cartoons known as anime. My world was opened to stories and characters with deep meaningful associations to traditions of the Japanese culture. Learning about traditions and cultural aspects of Japan intrigued me, as I never knew of these great mystical tales. My exploration of the Japanese culture has exploded in the years that I have attended Alberta College of Art and Design. Just as of recent, I have finally found my driving power to which held me so close to exploration of Japan: Cultural aspects and traditions.



Knowing this, I've looked into my own past, asking my family about our heritage. I've recently learned that our line of family on my fathers side came from Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Germany and Ireland. And on my mothers side, our history is purely Ukrainian. I want to explore the depths of cultures, learning about their specific fashions, customs, and folk legends.

The colors, tastes, smells and influences that cultures have on an outsiders view drive my passion greatly to better understand why they do things, and how they are done. From this point on, I will explore the realm of the unknown; the cultures of the world and their traditions and folk tales. Using fiber, video and photography, I will create works that will be influenced by the natural, physiological and mystical world that cultures have created and based themselves on.

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Popular cultures including movies, shows, books, music and fashions have always been an entry point for myself and my interaction with cultures around the world. Integrating myself with popular culture will give me a better understanding as to why the specific culture sees it as entertainment. I have a poor understanding of political stances in general, but I would like to work on projects that represent my thought on a specific matter that may seem politically wrong to me personally. Social issues are also intriguing to me about any culture around the world.