This was a personal project that began with my introduction to sculpting. Since it was my first significant sculpture, I wanted to create something that felt meaningful to me while also learning how to work with form, structure, and physical materials.

The main idea behind this piece was my desire to turn something personal into something tangible. I wanted to explore not only my technical skills in sculpting, but also my ability to reflect part of myself through an artwork that could be physically seen and touched.

At first glance, I wanted the piece to seem simple, but I also wanted it to carry an underlying symbol connected to my Korean culture. I used kimbap, a familiar Korean food, as the basis for the sculpture. By transforming it into a creature, I wanted to express my complicated feelings about culture and identity, especially the feeling of being expected to accept certain parts of my background without question. Instead of showing this idea directly, I wanted the creature-like form to suggest something slightly uncomfortable underneath its playful appearance.

Because this was my first major sculpture, I had to learn much of the process while making it. I realized that sculpture requires careful planning from the very beginning. The skeleton, proportions, and early structure all affect the final result, so I had to think ahead instead of only focusing on the part I was working on in the moment. Through this project, I learned that a successful sculpture depends not only on the final surface, but also on the decisions made in its earliest stages.