Mimi O Chun, "Inheritance No. 1: Dunkin’"
Cotton cloth, embroidery floss, FrayCheck
Variable; flat: 54 x 28 x 1in
2022
Dunkin’ is the first piece in my series, Inheritance, which features larger- than-life replicas of discarded trash. My goal with this series is to create a sense of scale that approximates the perspective of a small creature navigating the waste of our daily consumption. By enlarging these objects to 500% their actual size, I hope to highlight the pervasive impact of our throwaway culture on the environment and our health. In addition to its environmental implications, discarded packaging also speaks to deeper issues of class and inequality, particularly as it relates to access to healthy food. In Inheritance, I aim to provoke a deeper reflection on our relationship to consumer culture and our responsibility to create a more sustainable and equitable world.
STATEMENT
I make work that responds to the moment: sculptures intended to expose the absurdities of an unchecked capitalist agenda. I recreate and recast everyday objects to reveal the harms and humor of consumption as a proxy for personal identity, social status, and well-being. As someone who spent her early career designing brands and products for growth-at-all-cost corporations, I recognize the impact that blind tech optimism and exploitative labor practices inevitably have on the widening weatlh gap, a fragile environment, and policy susceptible to undue influence. My prior complicity fuels my artistic practice, compelling me to examine the consequences of a free market economy on both individuals and communities.
Throughout history, we have seen the destructive effects of capitalist fervor, from the 17th century tulip craze to the present-day fixation on niche brands. However, this phenomenon becomes particularly stark in times of crisis, leaving us to question our callousness, escapism, and distraction. Through my work, I hope to inspire reflection and dialogue about our hyperconsumerism and encourage a more thoughtful approach to the world around us.
BIO
Mimi O Chun is an artist whose soft sculptures reveal the ironies and inequities inherent to a late-capitalist economy. She re-contextualizes iconography borrowed from consumerist culture to create works that vacillate between parody and pastiche. Mimi works primarily in fabric, incorporating finishing techniques such as appliqué and embroidery to render objects in painstaking detail. Mimi earned her Bachelor of Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University and her Master of Fine Art from Yale School of Art. Her work has been published by Fast Company, Bon Appétit, White Zinfandel, Gather Journal, Makeshift magazine, and Princeton Architectural Press. Her first solo museum exhibition, Mimi O Chun: It’s all cake, was held at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art from 2021-2022. Mimi lives and works in New York City.
Cotton cloth, embroidery floss, FrayCheck
Variable; flat: 54 x 28 x 1in
2022
Dunkin’ is the first piece in my series, Inheritance, which features larger- than-life replicas of discarded trash. My goal with this series is to create a sense of scale that approximates the perspective of a small creature navigating the waste of our daily consumption. By enlarging these objects to 500% their actual size, I hope to highlight the pervasive impact of our throwaway culture on the environment and our health. In addition to its environmental implications, discarded packaging also speaks to deeper issues of class and inequality, particularly as it relates to access to healthy food. In Inheritance, I aim to provoke a deeper reflection on our relationship to consumer culture and our responsibility to create a more sustainable and equitable world.
STATEMENT
I make work that responds to the moment: sculptures intended to expose the absurdities of an unchecked capitalist agenda. I recreate and recast everyday objects to reveal the harms and humor of consumption as a proxy for personal identity, social status, and well-being. As someone who spent her early career designing brands and products for growth-at-all-cost corporations, I recognize the impact that blind tech optimism and exploitative labor practices inevitably have on the widening weatlh gap, a fragile environment, and policy susceptible to undue influence. My prior complicity fuels my artistic practice, compelling me to examine the consequences of a free market economy on both individuals and communities.
Throughout history, we have seen the destructive effects of capitalist fervor, from the 17th century tulip craze to the present-day fixation on niche brands. However, this phenomenon becomes particularly stark in times of crisis, leaving us to question our callousness, escapism, and distraction. Through my work, I hope to inspire reflection and dialogue about our hyperconsumerism and encourage a more thoughtful approach to the world around us.
BIO
Mimi O Chun is an artist whose soft sculptures reveal the ironies and inequities inherent to a late-capitalist economy. She re-contextualizes iconography borrowed from consumerist culture to create works that vacillate between parody and pastiche. Mimi works primarily in fabric, incorporating finishing techniques such as appliqué and embroidery to render objects in painstaking detail. Mimi earned her Bachelor of Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University and her Master of Fine Art from Yale School of Art. Her work has been published by Fast Company, Bon Appétit, White Zinfandel, Gather Journal, Makeshift magazine, and Princeton Architectural Press. Her first solo museum exhibition, Mimi O Chun: It’s all cake, was held at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art from 2021-2022. Mimi lives and works in New York City.
Cotton cloth, embroidery floss, FrayCheck
Variable; flat: 54 x 28 x 1in
2022
Dunkin’ is the first piece in my series, Inheritance, which features larger- than-life replicas of discarded trash. My goal with this series is to create a sense of scale that approximates the perspective of a small creature navigating the waste of our daily consumption. By enlarging these objects to 500% their actual size, I hope to highlight the pervasive impact of our throwaway culture on the environment and our health. In addition to its environmental implications, discarded packaging also speaks to deeper issues of class and inequality, particularly as it relates to access to healthy food. In Inheritance, I aim to provoke a deeper reflection on our relationship to consumer culture and our responsibility to create a more sustainable and equitable world.
STATEMENT
I make work that responds to the moment: sculptures intended to expose the absurdities of an unchecked capitalist agenda. I recreate and recast everyday objects to reveal the harms and humor of consumption as a proxy for personal identity, social status, and well-being. As someone who spent her early career designing brands and products for growth-at-all-cost corporations, I recognize the impact that blind tech optimism and exploitative labor practices inevitably have on the widening weatlh gap, a fragile environment, and policy susceptible to undue influence. My prior complicity fuels my artistic practice, compelling me to examine the consequences of a free market economy on both individuals and communities.
Throughout history, we have seen the destructive effects of capitalist fervor, from the 17th century tulip craze to the present-day fixation on niche brands. However, this phenomenon becomes particularly stark in times of crisis, leaving us to question our callousness, escapism, and distraction. Through my work, I hope to inspire reflection and dialogue about our hyperconsumerism and encourage a more thoughtful approach to the world around us.
BIO
Mimi O Chun is an artist whose soft sculptures reveal the ironies and inequities inherent to a late-capitalist economy. She re-contextualizes iconography borrowed from consumerist culture to create works that vacillate between parody and pastiche. Mimi works primarily in fabric, incorporating finishing techniques such as appliqué and embroidery to render objects in painstaking detail. Mimi earned her Bachelor of Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University and her Master of Fine Art from Yale School of Art. Her work has been published by Fast Company, Bon Appétit, White Zinfandel, Gather Journal, Makeshift magazine, and Princeton Architectural Press. Her first solo museum exhibition, Mimi O Chun: It’s all cake, was held at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art from 2021-2022. Mimi lives and works in New York City.