Blooming Into Self- Culture and Identity Series

This portrait project explores how culture is so vibrantly intertwined with identity- molding who we are and what we feel connected to. The project celebrates the different cultures and countries model YunYoung identifies with and embodies. This is an excerpt taken from interview with YunYoung in designing the project:

"I see the Korean part of myself in the way I eat, love community and dream of the restoration of Korean culture away from Imperialism. I see the Kenyan part of myself in the way I gravitate to warm people, fresh food and knowing the importance of loving and caring for ancestral land. And though no South African flower appears in the shoot, these words speak to the way my time has emboldened my voice- to speak up and not remain silent. It is also a place where I learned to embrace my Korean name, YunYoung. Yun means to shine bright while Young refers to flower/petals and a state of blossoming.

Through Ashton’s art and concept direction I was able to express and represent the blossoming into self that God is showing me in this chapter of my life, and through this blossoming- I will always remember the love that exists in all these spaces.”