I was born in Pusan City, Korea and I was adopted by an American family at the age of two. I was taken from one family and put into the arms of another. This new family is the only family I now know and love. Growing up in America, I have embraced the culture in every fashion. I know the ideology, leisure, food, social implications and preferences of this Western society. I am at an age now where I am becoming very intrigued by my own Asian heritage and feel I have fallen into a crack in the earth. The only world I have ever known is actually a foreign one, and my own roots are still to be discovered. This, as you might have guessed, has led me into art, opening the door and asking questions about identity. Who am I? Who are you?
	This first series of watercolors is about peaches. The idea of a peach is so wonderful to me. It has skin similar to human flesh. Just below its surface, there lies a sweet and sensual juiciness. The center contains the seed for new growth and with that removed you are left with a perfect depiction of the defining female. These peaches are a metaphor for contemplation. They are quite isolated and fragile. Even the paintings with two figures seem lonely. I have used a motif of dripping to render decay. I looked to artists such as Donald Sultan and Wayne Thiebaud.
	The second series of paintings are acrylic, in combination with lace and real peaches. I have taken my ideas to action. I have taken paint, peach and lace and violated the canvas. I have brought physicality into process by literally layering and throwing paint. I have practiced similar notions to what Pollock has done, working intuitively and leaving the mistakes. Here begins the breakthrough from still life to ideas. What tone is the right tone? Why, when as humans we strive for ultimate achievements of cultural success, do we usually fail and hurt ourselves? Who defines the standards? I want to expose myself. I am who I am.
	Taking this a step further, I documented this process with photography. These being literal self-portraits, I am again struggling with identity through a familiar, cosmetic foundation.
	All the while I deal with my own personal explorations. I admire and always keep in mind many artists. These are people who I look up to for ideas and bravery. I've always appreciated Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg, Elizabeth Murray, Jenny Saville, Lucian Freud, Lisa Yuskavage, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol. -Jessica So Jin Scott © 2002-2008 Jessica So Jin Scott