Visual artist KangHee Kim, best known as @tinycactus on Instagram, uses Photoshop to transform images of everyday street scenes and apartment interiors into surreal dreamscapes, all featuring portals into dreamlike worlds. On a visit to KangHee’s home and studio in Queens, Catherine and Juliana learn that the artist’s very distinctive work is directly connected to her status as a DACA recipient, which has prevented her from leaving the U.S. for over a decade. These images of “surreal escapism,” as she refers to them, have since become a form of visual therapy and have been called emblematic of today’s digital aesthetic.

Follow KangHee on Instagram @tinycactus

Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod

Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100

Editor: AJ Valente

Producer: Jessica Park

Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör KoreanAmericanStory.org, Catherine Hong, Juliana Sohn. Innehållet i podden är skapat av KoreanAmericanStory.org, Catherine Hong, Juliana Sohn och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.