Axe Kim
Ecstasy of Fear
“Ecstasy of Fear” explores the vicious cycle of narcissism and self-hatred through the exhaustive documentation of myself as maker and also the medium. I take upon the role of both subject and object in reflection to my ongoing experience of mental illness and self-deprecation. The work questions one’s perception of who they are truly seeing in the frame, fusing my persona as raw but simultaneously vigorous in manipulation. I exhaust myself in the work to the point of obsession, imposing a permanent questioning state of selfhood and place in the world.
![](https://i0.wp.com/photo.parsons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Axe_Kim_02-Max-Kim-1024x683.jpg?resize=750%2C500&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/photo.parsons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Axe_Kim_03-Max-Kim-1024x680.jpg?resize=750%2C498&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/photo.parsons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Axe_Kim_04-Max-Kim-1024x683.jpg?resize=750%2C500&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/photo.parsons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Axe_Kim_05-Max-Kim-1024x680.jpg?resize=750%2C498&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/photo.parsons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Axe_Kim_6-Max-Kim-1024x819.jpg?resize=750%2C600&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/photo.parsons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Axe_Kim_07-Max-Kim-1024x683.jpg?resize=750%2C500&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/photo.parsons.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Axe_Kim_08-Max-Kim-1024x819.jpg?resize=750%2C600&ssl=1)