9 to 5

'9 to 5', 2025

Oil on canvas, 50 x 61cm

'Commended' for the Korea-Australia Arts Foundation (KAAF) Art Prize

I looked back my early stage of my life, and how my life has been shaped to come to this moment. Then, I started revisiting the memory of my first-year birthday ceremony (Dol-jab-i). As part of the first birthday ceremony in Korea, we set up the table and spread various symbolic items representing future careers, and predict their future by one or two of the items they grab.
It is quite fun and also very significantly symbolic because we all consider the job as a very important tool to make money for a living in the society. As we mostly work from 9 am to 5 pm to make a living with paying taxes, I wanted to depict this universal symbolic concept of “9 to 5” as common future for everyone no matter what you do for work for a very long time.

Please contact info@kaaf.org.au or call 0411206580 if you're interested in purchasing this artwork.