Installation Art

Ten Thousand Butterflies

Hanji (Korean paper), Hand-dyed fabric

Have you met the 'Comfort Women?’ They were forced into sex slavery by Japanese soldiers before and during World War II. The exact count is unknown but has been estimated as over 200,000 women solely in Korea. Only 239 Korean women (roughly 0.1%) have officially registered themselves as victims of the comfort women epidemic, while the rest of them have remained silent largely due to the stigma and shame bound up with experiencing such trauma.

This work includes 10,000 butterflies created out of traditional Korean paper. Butterflies represent Korean comfort women, as they both are delicate and feminine. 9,990 yellow butterflies are attached to the blue fabric and stand for 99.9% of women who have remained silent concerning their experience. In Korea, the color yellow is traditionally used for funerals to allow spirits to rest in peace, and yellow provides hope. The red of 10 butterflies communicates the violence forced upon comfort women. These forms fly away from the oncoming wave and refer to the 0.1% of comfort women that boldly identified themselves as evidence of this horrible war crime. The installation takes the form of the famous Japanese print, The Great Wave by Hokusai.