DeepSeaWomen Description

Project Description - Deep Sea Women
The project I am currently researching and working towards is called “Deep Sea Women”.  “Deep Sea Women” will be a solo performance of vocals, traditional Korean instruments and modern musical effects.  The story will connect the tales of two women from Korean mythology with my own story and history.  Although all the women are disconnected through time (14,000 years ago,  5,000 years ago to present day), there are distinctive bridges which connect all three women.   
"Deep Sea Women" is based off of arguably the oldest two books in the world called the Budoji and The Chunbukyung - 81 letter book, a book of the laws of nature expressed through numbers. The Chunbukyung book is over 14,000 years old and contains the story of Creation. In the story of Creation, Creation already exists. Linear concepts of creation, preexistence or abstracts of the metaphysical world do not exist in the Budoji. Creation simply exists, manifested within itself in cyclical fashion. Deep Sea Women is based off of the ancient writings of these two books. 
The first woman in the Budoji book is central to Korean mythology and creator of the 81 letter book is Mago.  Mago, the first god and queen of music, was born from universal sound and vibration.  She created humanity, a result of the harmonized overflow of heaven and earth energy. As the writings explain Mago created two daughters Kunghee  and Sohee from under her arms. The daughter Kunghee gave birth to two sons and Sohee two daughters and all of humanity was created subsequently. Mago creates purpose for humanity as they search for their creator and roots.  Her story represents our perpetual quest for meaning and purpose. 
The second woman is the princess Bari.  In Korean folk tales she represents the victimization of women living under patriarchal structures.  In myth Bari was made to marry the Death King and forced to give birth to his sons. Bari flees her captivity and through self-sacrifice becomes the savior of her family (humanity).  Bari's story is regarded as one of the origins of shamanistic ritual in Korea. 
The third woman in the piece is myself.  And my story is still unfolding.  I left my home country to pursue a vision of life through art, a life full of questions of what I wanted to accomplish and why I should do it.  I see parallels between myself, Mago and Bari.  In Bari I see the model of humanities struggle with humanity, and in Mago I see the philosophy of what the world could be. Their stories inspire me to share the books root philosophy on the origin of humanity, differentiation of nationality, migration route, value of the feminism, worldview of ecology and roots of ancient culture.  
 
The title “Deep Sea Women” comes from my connection to the ocean, ocean songs and ocean sounds. Through my experience I have found that working in nature has a profound effect on my art and mind. I find inspiration in nature. I was born in a small, beautiful island where many women are pearl divers and songs about the ocean comfort us. On Jeju Island (off the South Korean southern tip), shamanic tradition is very strong and connected to the ocean. The stories of the three women in “Deep Sea Women” are intimately connected to the ocean, ocean sounds and other sounds from nature. In the ocean is the knowledge of creation; it's layers of deep knowledge and captured time of eternity offer a vehicle for me to access information for my work.  The instruments I will use to accompany my voice, such as cymbals, bells, singing bowls, gongs, flute, etc, are intended to promote the feeling of being in or near the sea. In addition I will use video, audio captures, imagery, stage set and installations to supplement the developing work.