During the years of military dictatorship, the label “mad woman” functioned as a powerful tool of control used to stigmatize and socially isolate women who fell outside the regime’s definition of “normality.” It did not simply refer to women with mental illness. Rather, it othered women who refused to conform to patriarchal order and state nationalism as uncontrollable figures, effectively stripping them of the right to speak.
Through the name “mad woman,” imposed by society, the artist instead declares, “Yes, I am that mad woman,” transforming the position of victim into that of an active subject. The performative character of her photographs lies in the way they operate as a form of social healing, much like traditional Korean rituals such as gut or salpuri.
