Hyun Choi

Artist Statement

My creative practice operates at the chaotic, polarized intersection of seemingly incompatible worlds: the abrasive energy of death metal iconography, the visceral power dynamics of BDSM subculture, the nostalgic textures of vintage print, and the empirical frameworks of science and technology. Operating under the alias Umami Mami - a name chosen to inject dark humor into heavy themes - I use my work to bridge these divides, weaving invisible threads to establish impossible connections between the clinical, the mechanical, and the transcendent.
Where others perceive aesthetic dissonance, my work uncovers a binding tissue. I am fascinated by the friction generated when organic human impulses meet synthetic structures. By subjectifying archival print materials and strict scientific geometry to the fluid, ego-dissolving logic of psychedelia, I create dense, multi-layered visual landscapes where hard lines melt and disparate eras coexist.
Beneath the surface of these compositions lies an anatomical dissection of contemporary human anxiety. My work confronts humanity’s inherent depravities, the artificial constraints of gender performance, and our accelerating, systemic submission to technology. By utilizing the metaphors of dominance and submission found within fetish art, I hold up a mirror to how modern society surrenders its autonomy to technocratic convenience.
Ultimately, my art rejects the modern impulse to compartmentalize our lives. It insists that the sacred and the profane, the obsolete and the cutting-edge, are all part of the same continuous loop. It offers no easy moral resolution; instead, it documents the beautiful, terrifying friction of a civilization caught between its biological past and its digital future, forcing a confrontation with the uncomfortable truths that make us human.