New Shades of Us by Kelly Han

Shades of Us is an ongoing collection of interactive digital illustrations of Seoul. Inspired by Henri Lefebvre’s text, “Seen from the Window”, I was interested in exploring and capturing this “rhythm” that Lefebevre discusses. Rhythm–in my interpretation–refers to the essence, energy, and life of each individual. All living entities have this rhythm, and such rhythms live harmoniously together in which it makes up a city as a whole. As such, I was interested in exploring and capturing this “rhythm” that Lefebevre states and taking it to the streets of Seoul: to be immersed in the energy of a city that I still hesitate to call home . These illustrations were initially photographed on my walks around the city. By utilizing artistic elements such as texture, color, and text as manifestations of the given”rhythm”, I strived to offer a window into this perspective–allowing people to realize the rhythm that they live amongst and what their unique presence adds to the life of a city–by giving these illustrations back to the photographed subjects and to wider audiences in social media pages.

-Kelly Han