From "The Power of Beauty."
Hyesook Choi is one of six artists participating in the Material World exhibition at Pittsburgh Glass Center from March 1 through May 12.
This multi-artist show will explore themes of consumerism, luxury, obsession, and materialism as they relate to popular culture and societal conventions.
Choi describes her artistic vision thus:
I investigate the concepts of modern beauty and how it has an influence on people, particularly women in their 20s and 30s in contemporary society. As society changes, the standard of beauty changes and the social expectations for beauty grow. In general women are more concerned about their looks than men are, because beauty plays a major role in their life through first impression and social status. However, with a strong focus on consumerism and society’s standard of female beauty, women have turned to materialistic goods, especially purses and high heels, to satisfy the artificial ideal beauty. It has resulted in women becoming more obsessed with the way they look and leading them to spend more time and money to acquire the products for their external beauty in order to enhance their self-esteem and to increase their confidence.The free opening reception is from 6:00 to 9:00 pm on March 1. The Pittsburgh Glass Center is located at 5472 Penn Avenue in Friendship (map).
Purses and high heels are merely products, but have had a symbolic meaning of female desire that becomes a reflection of the culture in modern day. As women’s advancement in society has increased, they have been able to use purses and high heels as a means of expressing physical beauty more than practicality, and aesthetics to support their attractiveness. Those ordinary items have gained value from becoming “must have” items for the modern women and symbolize the desires for beauty in modern women. I believe that these products have become an obsession among the young generation that questions the personal issue of identity in the context of current day societal convention.