“It’s just a toy.”

This cheerful, almost playful phrase has always been like a shield I hold up to suppress the dark emotions I‟ve carried throughout my life. Yet at the same time, it also sounds like something a villain might say before revealing their true, hidden pain. I often say it casually, but the story behind it is something no one else can fully know.
IT‟S JUST A TOY series captures my life and persistent hunger for a fantasy called "success." The culture that shaped me, the identity I‟ve built, the emotions I‟ve navigated... all of it flows into this body of work.

Since childhood, I‟ve idolized heroes and villains alike. They were the figures I wanted to become—the powers I wanted to possess, the dreams I hoped to achieve. As a kid, I yearned to resemble them, to become one of those “perfect beings.” However, they are not real and they existed only in the realm of fantasy. The only way I could fulfill my desire in some way was to own them as toys.

The glass toys reflect the image of my ideal, "successful self.” made out of crystal clear, elaborate vessel forms, intricate stemware, and details. Behind the playfulness and joy, there are loads of dark emotions that I felt from the journey to „success‟ hidden by the decorations — loneliness, jealousy, emptiness, anger, depression, anxiety, insecurity, pressure, competitiveness, the need for attention, perfectionism, materialism, and conspicuous life. Ironically, there wasn‟t much of happiness to be a super hero. Maybe I was never destined to be a superhero, maybe I was always meant to become a dark hero.