Hydra
2017
Hydra is a nine-headed serpent that grows two heads back whenever one is severed, symbolizing the ambivalence of water—both perilous and regenerative. The series of Hydra investigates the material imagination of water, tracing how myth mediates our understanding of the physical world.
Lithography echoes the regenerative force of the monster through its capacity to produce multiple originals, a concept directly realized in The Hydra_multiplied skins.
In Hydra After Death, the creature’s form is revisited after its defeat by Hercules. Inspired by Gustave Doré’s woodcuts and engravings, I explored how this mythic figure continues to produce and transform meaning through narrative.
This investigation of materiality and mythic storytelling later informed the Landscapes series, which expands these ideas into the design of fictional creatures and simulated worlds.
© 2017 Doi Kim