Guava Rhee
University of Pennsylvania
Bad English Good (American)
HD Video
2022
Artist Biography
Guava Rhee is a media artist based in Philadelphia, who holds a BFA from Cornell University and will graduate with an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania this May. Guava Rhee creates art as an extension of surviving every moment: she grasps the essence of the current era, scrutinizes the ever-changing present, and endorses the failures inevitable in the process. At this moment, she is captivated and motivated by the fact that her visa would expire soon, and that she might have to go back to her own country, where she cannot live as an openly queer woman. As she has only a few months before termination of her student visa, she is currently in a desperate search for ways to stay in the States with her Korean passport. Any job or marriage inquiries are always welcome: www.guavarhee.com/loveletter/
Artist Statement
When I lived in Gangnam for a year, alone, I realized how much more convenient it is for me to live in Korea than anywhere else in the world. I could feel at home even when surrounded by strangers. I thought about living in Seoul for the rest of my life, but decided not to, because if I did, I would be living with shame and guilt. I haven’t yet figured out if living in the U.S. as a queer Asian woman is any better than living as a queer woman in Korea, but I know from experience that in the unfamiliar streets of New York City, I am more myself than I ever can be in Korea. Feeling true to myself is more valuable to me than the sense of belonging. I can deal with loneliness, but not with closeted dishonesty. The word honesty has been in my mind for a long time.
In the past years of intensive work across the borders, I have discovered that the ability to articulate and elaborate ideas, thoughts, feelings, images is key to the honesty I'm after. To avoid deluding myself, I need the eloquence to pin down my feelings. I've also realized that honesty requires disillusionment. Disillusionment is heartbreaking, yet it is a driving force, the fuel to create more. I choose to act on through art rather than to fool myself. I have my two feet grounded in reality while keeping the urgency to create alive. My strength is the ability to desire without infatuation.
As Albert Murray writes in The Blue Devils of Nada, art is “precisely the ultimate extension, elaboration, and refinement of the fundamental rituals underlying the lifestyle survival techniques of the people.” I create my art as an extension of surviving every moment. I try to grasp the essence of the current era, scrutinize the ever-changing present, and endorse the failures inevitable in the process. An artist renders one’s insight in the language of insight. My obligation is to disseminate how I survive the reality in this specific era, in the form of insight.