Why Hugs Are Difficult​​​

Why Hugs Are Difficult stems from my conflicting relationship with physical intimacy, something I have always struggled with. While living in Germany, I encountered a culture of casual hugging that was far more frequent and intimate than I was used to. I found these embraces uncomfortable and even invasive. I convinced myself that I simply didn't like hugs and that I preferred solitude.

Yet, paradoxically, every figure I created clung desperately to another—grasping, holding, embracing. This contradiction forced me to confront an uncomfortable truth: perhaps I wasn't rejecting hugs themselves, but rather the vulnerability they demanded. To me, a hug is a physical act of contact, but it is also an act of exchanging warmth and comfort—a way of sharing emotion and connection. Perhaps what I craved—and feared—wasn't the physical contact itself, but the emotional exchange it represents.

The figures in these drawings are deliberately featureless, stripped of gender, age, or identity, yet locked in tight hugs. The crocheted backgrounds are made from old clothes and blankets—fabrics that once wrapped someone, carrying traces of warmth and protection. Through this work, I explore the growing emotional distance in modern life and the difficulty of receiving the comfort we so desperately need.