When I first started learning English in preschool, my mother began stocking our bookshelves with Korean folktale children’s books to keep four-year-old me connected to our homeland’s culture. Years after nearly losing my mother tongue to tuna sandwiches and episodes of "Arthur," I found myself gravitating back towards these old picture books. In an attempt to portray the second generation experience of reconnecting with one’s cultural identity after a lifetime away from the homeland, this painting illustrates several of my favorite folktales and explores Korean iconography in its minhwa elements.

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