WAIFU

The Waifu collection reimagines the 12th-century Korean plum vase, maebyeong (매병), as closed, anthropomorphic forms carved with sgraffito drawings of solemn kawaii characters. The surfaces are layered with underglaze imagery inspired by hwatu, the Korean adaptation of the Japanese hanafuda flower card game. The works explore how Japan reshaped its global image after World War II through the spread of cute, infantilized aesthetics and pop-fantasy, while the histories of imperial violence and wartime atrocities remain unresolved.