"We often say plastic surgery is redoing or fixing your appearance -- but fixing means correcting something,” says Han. “It seems Korean women think the features they are born with are flawed."

Talking Three Graces.

Han has been altering the standard Western concept of beauty statue with recognizable Asian attributes, like slimmer waists and smaller breasts. The goddesses she sculpts consequently look unfamiliar to both Westerners and Asians alike. In late May, her well-regarded works fetched more than three times their estimated price at Christie's Hong Kong.

Han was invited to Seoul under the International Artists Residency program by Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Arts. When she first arrived, she was shocked by how Westernized Korean culture had become. But while those around her looked to the West, Han preferred to reflect Korean artistic methods such as in celadon pieces. Han received morale-boosting financial support for her porcelain “Venus” series from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.

Masturbating Grace, Bowing Grace, Shy Grace.

Her works also drew negative reviews in Korea, which said someone who left Korea at such an early age was ill positioned to be critical of the Korean realities. But she says her art should be viewed for itself.

“That's love of art. I think Koreans now consider my works as an attempt to better understand Korean society.

“Korea as well as China are countries that showcase an intense art marked by the explosive energy of contradiction and chaos. The Korean people lost their national pride during the Japanese colonial era, so they tend to judge themselves from the viewpoints of others. But it is time to recover."

(englishnews@chosun.com )