EV MFA candidate, Heejoo Kim is recognized as a finalist in the UIC’s The Image of Research 2009 competition. Artist Kim’s interests place unreal and surreal spaces in relation to reality. The Tight Room image is a screen capture of the Maya animation created for an installation, which is constructed on the concept and background of corsets. This temporal and spatial dimension reflects how we perceive past and future meanings of corsets physically as well as psychologically.

Although corsets originated in the 16th century, they have become a symbol of Victorian upper-class matrons. In the Victorian age the thinner the female waist, the more attractive a figure was considered. Girls of this era aspired to marry before 21 with a waist measurement less than the years of her age. In pursuit of this passion of being thinner, corsets caused obvious physical and mental health problems. They were frequently laced so tightly that women often fainted due to numbness of lower body and legs. This phenomenon produced the image of female as a fragile, pathetic, helpless creature. Even though the actual corset itself is disappearing, the concept behind it has been internalized in contemporary times through extreme diet and plastic surgery.

The Image of Research is an annual interdisciplinary exhibit competition to showcase the breadth and diversity of research at UIC. Winning and the finalist images are displayed at the UIC Daley Library.

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