Artist's Statement
I
n October 2023\, at 23 years old\, I returned to Korea with my mother for
the first time since I was seven. This exhibition represents what I found
when I went looking for myself in Korea\, and what I learned about where I
come from. South Korea is a beautiful country\, with wonderful colors eve
rywhere you look\, and resourceful ways of solving everyday problems in ev
ery home. But where my family is from in Bian Myeon\, a rural township in
the North Gyeongsang Province\, they have seen the dilapidation of their c
ommunity\, though not by choice. In Bian\, you&rsquo\;ll find lovely grand
mothers visiting and making naughty jokes\, taking care of the local marke
t\, the restaurants and coffee shops. The stray cats try their best to get
into their garbage but are met with swats. It&rsquo\;s a town that has gr
own old and wise and connected and self-sufficient. But there are empty se
ats in their schools and the young families have moved away closer to the
cities. Modernity in Korea happened rapidly\, leaving some behind in the p
rocess. While the urban centers are filled to the brim with people\, servi
ces\, and business\, the rural communities rely on each other to tend to t
heir farms and livestock\, and to their aunts and caretakers for hour-long
rides to their doctors appointments. It's a community of hope\, trust\, a
nd love in the best form. They love it there in their hallowed town\, and
I do too\, especially my grandmother\, Kim Soon-Ja. My grandmother is a ba
dass. She tells it how it is\, even when you didn&lsquo\;t know that you n
eeded to hear it. She&rsquo\;s a short firecracker and full of laughter an
d emotion. She&rsquo\;s the sweetest grandmother and a snapping mother in
the same sentence. She feeds me until I can&rsquo\;t eat anymore\, and com
forts me in a home made of love and years in the restaurant business. This
exhibition is a tribute to her\, and to my mother who gives me the connec
tion to home in Korea that I so crave
Artist Bio< br />Victoria Hills is a photographer based in Salt Lake City\, where she& rsquo\;s lived for the past 8 years. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in poli tical science from the University of Utah and currently works in communica tions for the Utah Historical Society. Victoria considers herself a docume ntary photographer\, with a passion for storytelling and timeless candid m oments. Her photography ranges from portraiture to live music to landscape s and recently\, weddings. Her primary medium is 35mm and medium format fi lm\, and would prefer to shoot film for every project for its intentionali ty and unique character.
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