Between_American Dream #2: A Korean American Self-Portrait

Between_American Dream #2: A Marriage of Identities

A self-portrait of Citizenship, Cultural Memory, and Symbolic Union

Between_American Dream #2 is the second image in my Between series.                It weaves together three identities—bride, Ms. Korea America, and the Statue of Liberty—into a single self-portrait.

At the center of this image is how I looked and felt on the day I became a U.S. citizen. I saw myself as a bride entering a symbolic union with America, as Ms. Korea America radiating the pride of belonging, and as the Statue of Liberty, finally able to dream freely—legally and fully. These three aspects of myself converge in one frame.

Studio portrait used as the base figure for Between_American Dream #2.

The sash I wear reads “Ms. Korea America”—not “Miss”—and that choice was deliberate. I had already been “married” once, to Korea, the country where I was born and raised. This second union, with America, was not a naive beginning, but a conscious step into a new chapter—one that acknowledges the complexity of cultural loyalty, belonging, and self-definition.

Holding my certificate of citizenship was a milestone—a moment when a new chapter opened. After two decades of living as an outsider, it wasn’t that I finally had a country—it was that this country finally had me. I still remember the trembling joy of that day, like a bride’s quiet breath before walking down the aisle. It felt like the end of a long migration—and the start of something unknown.

I first arrived in the U.S. on Staten Island, NY. Whenever I needed to get to Manhattan, I took the ferry and looked out at the Statue of Liberty. Eventually, she became something I was reaching for—an emblem of arrival and possibility.

So in this image, I hold a U.S. flag instead of a torch, my citizenship certificate instead of a tablet of law. On the Hudson River, I become both bride and statue.     That self-portrait is what I call Between_American Dream #2.

Early concept sketch for Between_American Dream #2

Marriage is the emotional core of this image, and the jokduri, a traditional Korean bridal crown, makes that visible. It is one of the visual elements in the image that signifies my Korean heritage. Traditionally worn by brides in Korean wedding ceremonies, the jokduri embodies meanings of formality, transition, and new beginnings. Alongside the jokduri, I also wear a daenggi—a traditional ribbon used to tie the hair of unmarried women in Korea. Wearing both the jokduri and the daenggi together creates a striking visual contradiction: one symbolizes a woman entering marriage; the other, someone who has not yet crossed that threshold. From a traditional perspective, this pairing would seem mismatched. But in this image, it is entirely intentional.

The daenggi represents my former self, rooted in Korean culture. The jokduri signifies the woman I became as I stepped into a new identity—an American citizen. Their coexistence reflects a layered identity, suspended between past and future, tradition and transformation. This visual contradiction echoes the central question of the Between series: what does it mean to inhabit the space between cultures, roles, and histories?

The Between series is not about choosing one over the other, but about holding both—imperfectly, honestly, fully—through a transitional ritual that navigates the space between cultures, identities, and histories.