"During the Second World War (1932-1945), hundreds of thousands of Asian women became “Comfort Women,” which is a euphemism used to describe women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army. These women were forcefully taken from their countries and conscripted into many Asian countries to be imprisoned at military comfort stations where they were physically disgraced and emotionally mortified. Even after given freedom, many of them committed suicide or remained in foreign countries instead of returning home because of the humiliation. To this day, these victimized women live with unbearable memory and physical scars, hidden from the world and unwilling to openly disclose their past.
The truth I found inevitably drove me to explore this issue further through my work. Because it is a historical event, a thorough research became a crucial starting point to acquire solid facts prior to starting on this project. I found books, research papers, and dissertations that essentially provided me with symbolic numbers, sites, and testimonies to be metaphorically expressed in most of my artworks." - Jungeun Lee
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