Visual artist KangHee Kim, best known as @tinycactus on Instagram, uses Photoshop to transform images of everyday street scenes and apartment interiors into surreal dreamscapes, all featuring portals into dreamlike worlds. On a visit to KangHee’s home and studio in Queens, Catherine and Juliana learn that the artist’s very distinctive work is directly connected to her status as a DACA recipient, which has prevented her from leaving the U.S. for over a decade. These images of “surreal escapism,” as she refers to them, have since become a form of visual therapy and have been called emblematic of today’s digital aesthetic.
Follow KangHee on Instagram @tinycactus
Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Editor: AJ Valente
Producer: Jessica Park
Executive Producer: HJ Lee