Forest of Joy

Greenwashing. What the South Korean government is doing today. Although this term is mainly used for companies and organizations, it is when these groups of people portray their product or service as something environmentally friendly when it is not. The government is doing so by trying to gain easy money through unethical doings, like what they did to the hundreds of trees in Gangwon Do. They cut them down, stating that trees older than 30 years can no longer produce proper oxygen that is helpful for the environment, which is entirely false.

Older trees have more benefits than younger trees, like being able to protect nearby water systems, being a source producing healthy soil, lessening air pollution, and so much more. Due to the sudden excessive cut-down of trees, homes housed near mountains are also threatened to be harmed by landsliding.

As I took the picture, it hurt to see all of the spots where the trees had been cut down. Therefore, I created my forest by adding the trees I made using yarns, fake grass, and wires onto my photographs. I named this series “Forest of Joy” after my middle name since it is a forest I created. I also felt that a forest full of life would be a forest full of joy.