DEAR LEADER
Imagine being mandated by the United States government to hang Donald Trump’s portrait in your living room. Some of you might be amused. Some of you horrified. Now imagine being required to abandon your faith and worship him as your god. At this point, most, if not all, would be horrified. This is life in North Korea, where portraits of the “Dear Leaders” — Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un — hang in every home, with Kim Il Sung, the founder of the nation, considered a deity.
This series begins with framed portraits of my own “dear leaders”: my North Korean Haraboji (grandfather) and Halmoni (grandmother). The two of them escaped, leaving all they knew, in search of freedom. That risk-taking decision would shape every generation to come. My parents went off to build the American Dream. I am now living my own dream life of being a full-time artist and a homeschooling mother of three.
So I ask: What does it mean to lead? What does it mean to make choices that ripple through generations and shape the future? And what brave decisions are you making
today that will become the legacies of tomorrow?
This series begins with framed portraits of my own “dear leaders”: my North Korean Haraboji (grandfather) and Halmoni (grandmother). The two of them escaped, leaving all they knew, in search of freedom. That risk-taking decision would shape every generation to come. My parents went off to build the American Dream. I am now living my own dream life of being a full-time artist and a homeschooling mother of three.
So I ask: What does it mean to lead? What does it mean to make choices that ripple through generations and shape the future? And what brave decisions are you making
today that will become the legacies of tomorrow?