MOTHERNIGHT

4K HD / 3-Channel Video / English & Korean with English subtitles / Stereo Sound / 17.20 min / 2020

Told from the memories of 3 female vampires murdered in the past and present, MOTHERNIGHT combines sci-fi horror, folktales, & historical narratives to form a probing investigation on how power and male lineage are inherently linked to the institution of the family. It unveils how colonial legacies and war histories are inherently connected to patriarchal violence and Western domination while pondering new means of kinship beyond racial belonging.

Born out of myths and folktales that demonized women outcasts, vampires originated from the Russian word “upir” which means “sinner” or a practitioner of witchcraft. In MOTHERNIGHT, the 3 vampires are in search of redemption and salvation as they attempt to resolve their own hidden pasts – murder, domestic violence, suicide, transracial adoption and the shame that haunts them in the afterlife. Based on Japanese nursemaid lullabies, Chinese village ghost operas, the Korean shaman tale of Princess Bari and the iconic South Korean films, “The Housemaid” & “Lady Vengeance", MOTHERNIGHT combines collage storytelling in order to reveal how personal as well as collective histories intersect throughout various cultures and time periods.

The video confronts how female isolation and the institution of the family are tethered to power dynamics deeply rooted in colonial traditions and patriarchal violence. The project seeks to adopt empathetic strategies that resist historical oppression & attempts to reconcile the past while posing critical questions on the future of kinship, relationships, adoption and the descent of fear.