‘My Face is an Onggi’ (2026) plays with the idea that the body is a vessel. In this performance art piece, artist Jamie Lee slathers her face with gochujang, wet clay, and then dry clay. By combining the red clays mined in America with gochujang made in Korea, the piece highlights the intersection of these two cultures and reflects the artist’s heritage. An onggi (Korean fermentation jar) typically holds gochujang, soy sauce, and other fermented items. Gochujang has a pivotal role in this piece as it is characteristically Korean, a symbol of Korean resilience through imperialist occupation, and a paste made from ground chili peppers.

Korean diaspora is often not considered one and the same as native Koreans due to cultural differences and ideals. The ongoing “diaspora wars” serve as an example of this conflict. Ultimately, both have the same ethnocultural origins that go all the way back to Korea. The onggi holds, just as the body and mind hold the soul. Fermentation preserves food, just as it equally preserves culture. In this shared culture, Koreans and diaspora alike can relate to each other. The onggi serves as a reminder of time, the wet clay demonstrating the build-and-throw technique to make an onggi. The dry clay represents the spiritual ties Koreans have to the land, addressing the confusion within the diaspora that occurs when they are far removed from their homeland. These layers of material obscure the face, explaining that beneath the surface, we are all still Korean.