21st-Century New Genre Painting: Italy Style

The moment we undress, we also set down, for a while, the roles we wear in society. The most unguarded state can, paradoxically, become the most comfortable moment of all. 21st-Century Sauna: Italy Style began with a childhood memory — the bathhouse she visited holding her parents’ hands, which has remained, even into adulthood, a special place for washing away fatigue. It was also intriguing to her that the ‘Italy towel,’ unknown in Italy itself, has become a name so deeply woven into Korean bathing culture. At the bathhouse, occupation and status fall away for a moment, and everyone returns to a similar state. Just as old dirt is scrubbed away, so too, it seems, are the tension and pretense accumulated over the course of a day. Perhaps true rest begins not from acquiring something more, but from a state in which it is alright to set everything down for a while.