What does the design of your shoe communicate to the public?
The name reflects migration issues through my personal experience. I was able to relate to the unstable emotions of going “back and forth” and not having a permanent "home." Yet, at the same time, I also realized how my migration was voluntary and privileged. Comparing myself to the people going through these experiences inspired me to advocate immigration issues through the design of my shoe. By creating slippers - a symbol of "comfort" - with representational materials, I communicate the challenging circumstances that migrants have to face.
Have you purposefully created design elements in order to successfully communicate visually?
To communicate specifically my personal experiences, I designed unique footprints of the places I have lived the longest in: Irvine, Seoul, Leesburg, and Daejeon. Adding the interactive element of physically walking in these slippers, I expressed how I have been moving “back and forth.”
The catalog pages of groceries and furniture represents home. By abstracting these pages, I created an unstable pattern, reflecting the emotions of those of forced migration, not being able to have these things that make home "home."