Cherin Kim is an interdisciplinary artist working across fibers, fashion and painting/drawing. Her fashion discipline explores the practices of interaction, embodiment and play implemented in children’s activities and toys, taking inspiration from the subcultures and entertainment media of her own childhood.
Bubblegum Mecha, 2023, leather, soling material, cork, beaded trim
Bubblegum Mecha, 2023, leather, soling material, cork, beaded trim
Bubblegum Mecha, 2023, leather, soling material, cork, beaded trim
Bubblegum-Mecha-4
Bubblegum Mecha, 2023, leather, soling material, cork, beaded trim
Bubblegum Mecha, 2023, leather, soling material, cork, beaded trim
Mecha Collection, 2023, ink pen and watercolor, 9 x 6 in (each)
Bubblegum Mecha (sketch), 2023, ink pen and watercolor, 9 x 6 in (each)
In my recent artistic practice, I have been reflecting on my childhood and the ways in which I interacted with girlhood in relation to boys or men. Having been born and raised in Japan alongside two older brothers, much of the media I consumed as a child consisted of cartoons, games and toys targeted at young boys. I looked up to my brothers as mentor figures, so participating in their games and playing with the same toys or media objects became a way for me to feel connected to them. However, I also found myself drawn to the narratives and aesthetic sensibilities of girl’s media, which provided me with space for a more feminine vision of fantasy.
The Mecha Collection is a footwear collection I designed based on the Japanese term for a genre of entertainment media (“mecha”) prominently featuring large, humanoid robots set in futuristic or fantastical settings. During the process of producing these designs, I looked at prominent mecha franchises across anime, manga and video games, as well as children’s toys based on Japanese boys’ media. The collection takes the mechanical forms of traditional mecha robots and reinterprets them into more feminine shoe styles or color palettes. Furthermore, the designs are toy-like in nature and materially evoke the shiny, metallic surfaces of plastic toys and mecha figurines. My final pair, Bubblegum Mecha, was constructed using metallic leather then ornamented with beaded trim and hand cut appliques, incorporating the aesthetic qualities of more feminine children’s media.