Lately, I have been extremely interested in creating artworks that move beyond being solely about myself and instead allow the audience to engage more directly with them. I have been trying to make my work convey something more than just my own personal stories, while still allowing my stories to be present.
I have been experimenting with various images by seeking out random objects in magazines or using my own photographs.
When I started the "Fish Persons" series, I mainly just went with the flow, without a solid concept. I ended up with two almost grotesque and eerie-looking creatures which I then neglected for almost two years.
When I looked back at these two collages after those two years, I was shocked by how these randomly arranged assemblies began to make sense to me. They were specifically inspired by a feeling of suffocation that I had apparently been suppressing. This realization truly inspired me to start painting these collages.
I really enjoyed hearing my classmates' observations about the two "Fish Person" paintings and how these random, surrealist images opened up such an interesting dialogue.
"Scared Fish lady" © 2025 by Tami Han
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
"Scared Fish Lady" (2025), oil on canvas, 22 x 30
*Suffocating Fish Person* © 2025 by Tami Han
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
"Suffocating fish person" (2025), oil on canvas, 16 x 20