By Rina Oh
“My name is Thirsty.” Pastel on sandpaper. 27.5” x 19.75” 2022. Image Credit: Rina Oh
Post colonial Korea is an era of trauma, suffering, loss, and recovery. Economic recovery came first, PTSD second, and now we are all collectively in “general recovery mode” as a society. Looking back and looking forward – what does the future look like for postcolonial Korea? Let me remind you about the past, and bring up the taboo subject I’ve been told must not be spoken of. And I say: “Really? Why are you trying to silence me, who’s speaking about tragedy and injustice”. This is part of history, and we can’t turn a blind eye to it. I spent most of my life contemplating how it will eventually emerge as a voice that can speak, without saying much yet saying everything. And that voice became known as “Thirsty” who speaks on behalf of the 200,000 women who were sex trafficked in the Korean Peninsula during the colonial rule of Japan. The imperial Japanese army kidnapped, displaced, and sexually abused these women and children. They were not prostitutes. They were forced to do things against their will and very few survived the physical trauma.
In post traumatic, post-colonial Korea exists a little girl named “Thirsty” who speaks and visually depicts the past, present, and future. Thirsty is the voice of the 200,000 women who were trafficked by the Imperial Japanese Army in Korea. She is also the voice of the ongoing plight of those voiceless who continue to be trafficked today. Thirsty is a collective voice that speaks in many tones. They are strong, soft, compassionate, sad, fierce, and deeply emotional – oftentimes confrontational and passive aggressive. Thirsty is religious and in her stories, the spirit gives her hope someday all the pain will be washed away.
Thirsty painted the apology the “Comfort Women” have been demanding and waiting for. They’ve been denied every brink of justice, and many even say these women have died several times. I’ve presented the initial drawings made by Thirsty to many Korean women. Some work at South Korean government agencies, some work as Korean art dealers, curators, academics, and fellow female artists. No one has objected to this voice – but there is quite a bit of fear in how the rest of the world should react after seeing and hearing the passive aggressive voice of Thirsty.
I put on my armor and became brave and do not fear the criticism. Somebody must do it, and it has it be done now, before the last “Comfort Woman” leaves this world and is gone forever. We are beginning to speak out and heal. The dehumanization traumas were taboo to mention with the political stance of the victims who were thrown into the realm of surviving in the red zone. Willingly immigrating to Japan, our colonizer vs. human trafficking whether they are unpaid workers or the 200,000 mothers and daughters unjustly called “comfort women” is an issue I must present in this article. We have remained silent for generations. These stateless Koreans living in Japan are called (Joseonji), sometimes by the racial slur Zainichi Koreans.
My own art today gives a visual voice to these “Comfort Women”, aka a gaslighting slur-whom I’ve collectively called “Thirsty”, rebranded the slur in a series dedicated to their injustice, emotional trauma, and silent cries for an apology.
Thirsty is a small Korean girl, who speaks for the collective 200,000 mothers and daughters. It’s not about the art itself but the voyage, the tears, and thirst for justice. In this body of work, I placed myself in their shoes making Thirsty ultimately a self-portrait. I wear the hanbok of the working class – and more specifically the white jeogori top with a black chima. This is what they wore, as slaves who were forced to “comfort” the Imperial Japanese Army soldiers and sexually gratify them. I was recently told by several Korean women the black and white hanbok were specific to colonial Korea, where women and girls were forced to wear these garments everywhere. Someone said it was also the garment worn by students and teachers. To me – these colors represent the era of inequality and dehumanization.
Thirsty appears in a collective group of Indigenous Asian children in “Where Are You From”, who are all female and vary from country of origin. They represent many humans that are trafficked today. According to recent UN statistics, Asians make up the majority race, and the majority of all humans that are trafficked annually.
The Thirsty series consists of fictional characters representing those whose names and faces we will never know. It’s a memorial piece, and part of this collection gives space and a strong voice to the 200,000 Korean mothers and daughters, along with those who are trafficked in our modern day. Each portrait comes with a poem, where I’ve given names to the nameless. I give them individualized voices, sometimes in their Indigenous languages, and the safe space to speak their truth, breaking their silence- letting them see that I see their pain, and that pains me to cry with them.
My message to the world is: “Thirsty was created for the ‘Comfort’ women and children who were trafficked in Korea. These images were made to give them peace. I imagined what the apology should look like, in the event those whose apology we are asking for – don’t know how to deliver one, especially one that should be so carefully thought out. I made these drawings for the victims and very few survivors who are with us. I am that little girl. My name is Thirsty and may this voice and word serve as the new vocabulary instead of ‘Comfort’ women. They are victims and survivors of wartime sex crimes, and therefore should not be erroneously called anything other than that. I want the survivors to realize that the world is not so cruel- that people do care, and that I am here for them. They are not alone”.
Thirsty is a poet who writes a literature piece for every portrait she creates. This is her autobiography.
My name is Thirsty.
I am so thirsty for justice.
I was one of few survivors.
I am called a comfort woman.
I was forced into sex slavery against my will.
I am not a prostitute.
I was a child.
I have a name.
I am Korean.
My name is thirsty.
I am holding a bowl that pours water from the fountain of life.
I’ve been thirsty for justice for generations.
I started drinking from this bowl of tears I collected.
My name is Thirsty.
Ask me where my home is.
I was born in heaven.
I see angels in heaven when I cry these tears of pain.
I had a dream you apologized to the victims and survivors seeking justice.
You kneeled and asked for forgiveness.
You cried and wiped away my tears.
My name is thirsty.
I’ve been thirsty for divine justice.
I live in heaven on earth.
My spirit is here among the highest mountains.
I will wait forever to hear you say you’re sorry.
My name is Thirsty.
I wear the color white.
I’ve washed and cleansed my spirit in righteousness.
I want to live forever and ever.
Bodies come and go,
Yet the eternal soul wants to live forever.
Have you washed your clothes?
Are you pure at heart?
Have you asked him for forgiveness?
Do you believe in love?
Do you trust in love?
Then whom do you worship?
Why are you so afraid to face the truth?
Would you rather perish away with the ocean?
My name is Thirsty.
I am thirsty to drink the water of eternal life.
I am so thirsty for righteousness and justice.
I’ve collected all of my father’s tears from heaven.
You’ve made him cry for a long time.
When you hurt the ones like me,
You are hurting him.
When I cry,
He cries with me.
When I cry for you,
He cries for you,
He cries because he loves more.
He always has and always will love more.
My name is Thirsty.
My father is calling me to come home to eternal paradise.
I was born in heaven.
I told my father I am staying here for a little while longer.
I am bringing his kingdom to the earth.
Will you walk with me to find his kingdom?
My name is Thirsty.
I’ve been collecting tears of sadness and pain my entire life.
I am turning these tears into endless rain.
The rain that washes away all the pain so that children won’t cry anymore.
“Where are You From?” Pastel on sandpaper. 27.5″ x 19.75” 2022. Image Credit: Rina Oh
“Where are you from”
Where are you from?
My name is Amoute,
I was named Pocahontas when I was trafficked out of my ancestors’ land.
I am from turtle island.
I’m still here.
I am told this is not my home.
I am a princess, mother, daughter, sister of the Powhatan Nation.
I was trafficked out of my ancestral land called turtle island.
Yet my spirit lives here forever.
I was trafficked from Siberia.
My home is intangible.
I see angels in heaven.
They comfort me when I cry.
I was trafficked from Thailand.
I have a different story.
I was taken abroad.
My indigenous identity erased, replaced with one I do not even understand.
I was trafficked from Nepal.
I work endless days and endless nights.
I was taken from my village when I was too young to remember where I am from.
I do not get paid to work.
My name is Thirsty.
I am called a Comfort Woman.
I was taken from my sleep and forced into sex slavery in my own country.
We are not invisible. 2/3 of all human trafficking victims are East Asian.
“Out of Babylon” HD Print Photograph Prints from Video Installation at IN7 Artist’s Residency 2024.
Image Credit: Rina Oh
Beyond the realm of Thirsty – exists an even greater epilogue, it is the trauma of the spirit that many living beings have experienced during their short time on earth. “Out of Babylon” is in part a video installation with drawings, sculptures, and photographic prints with a short film about PTSD dedicated to the greater world beyond Thirsty’s borders. If someone were to ask me what genre does my work fall into? My answer is: Processing the world around me, and for now: The Post Traumatic Growth Movement. “Out of Babylon”, portrays the act of processing the trauma with a light at the end of the tunnel. The spirit is lifted by the hand of an angel. Many forms of hands are portrayed throughout this film, each version symbolizing a stage in one’s mental health. This film is an awakening for those who are still in that psychological red zone, living in darkness and fear. The film creates a safe space for victims to speak out, and for them to begin the process of healing, which will ultimately lead us as a society to enter an era of Post Traumatic Growth.
“Out of Babylon” excerpt from Video Installation at IN7 Artist’s Residency 2024. Image Credit: Rina Oh
Out of Babylon: Short Film by Rina Oh
Source: video file https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/vwhmzx1am7ido6k1x4ceq/AIMpU7bYzHYubIhmgHA3rbo?rlkey=8kovq3ptc0ohp25ne7893m6wf&st=kklxe17v&dl=0