3. Noriko Sunayama “A SULTRY WORLD”

When I was in Korea for winter break, I went on a gallery tour with my mother. Most of the works were by Korean artists but there was one installation that captivated me. It was a work by a Japanese artist Noriko Sunayama and the work was called “A Sultry World”. It was a huge satin crimson dress covering the whole gallery space. The caption said that the artist made the work to talk about her experience as a woman and her experience of being raped as a child. The instruction said that the audience can walk into the dress and explore. I walked in and I was expecting it to be little uncomfortable. First, I did not like the idea that I was crawling under someone’s dress and second, I was scared that I would get lost under the dress. My mother did not go into the dress because she did not want to get her clothes dirty. I crawled into it and surprisingly, I felt really comfortable. It was warm and cozy. The satin dress was heavy enough to cover my whole body but was not too heavy to make me feel overwhelmed. I walked toward the middle to find an opening and there I found pencils, notes and flashlights. The artist wanted her audience to write how they felt. I wrote, “I felt comfortable and protected, but how do I get out?”