3D Artist DAMO

Sympathy for Ms. 3

The moment I saw her feed, I knew. This was exactly the kind of (positive) weirdo we had been looking for.

 

I spent days obsessing over her piece Do you love me. It hit me: if I realized my partner didn't love me, would I just slice my own torso off like her bob-haired character? Probably not, but the question lingered. We went back and forth, unpacking the wild things she scatters across 3D space. Her work felt alive. Like looking closely at a wildflower, the more I stared, the more interesting it became. I met Damo, the artist who drags her unfiltered imagination kicking and screaming into the 3D world.

 

"To see its beauty, you must look closely. To love it, you must look long. You are the same." (Wildflower, Na Tae-joo)

       

 

Q1. We are hunting for weirdos. Please introduce yourself.

Hi. I’m Damo. I actually don’t think I’m that weird. I just make 3D characters and animations. I might seem weird at first, but I’m really just making the kinds of things everyone has secretly imagined at least once.

 

Damo playing a green onion flute. Her favorite movie is Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

 

 

Q2. The name 'DAMO' is intriguing. We heard it means "lots of hair" because your hair grows fast. Was there a special reason you chose this?

The nickname Damo was a name my high school friends used to tease me. To be honest it was the nickname I hated most back in high school. Looking back now I don't really understand why I decided to keep using it.

 

 

Thinking back I think I just wanted to hide myself. I remember just wanting people to like my work without using my real name since people didn't know who I was.

           

Q3. What does 3D mean in Damo’s world?

I think it might be the tool that best realizes all the thoughts and imaginations in my head. Now 3D feels like the most familiar and comfortable bridge that lets me tell my stories. Regardless of the tool isn't 3D the medium that lets me create what I want most intuitively?

           

ⓒ@damo_fbx

  

Q4. If you could do collaboration work with one high-end fashion brand which brand you would choose?

I like brands that don’t worry too much about reality and just do whatever they want. I think I’d choose MOSCHINO.

             

          

About three years ago I went on a trip to Paris. I went into a shop and the clerk told me it was the last one. It was probably the ‘22 collection. The hamburger bag that came out with the hot dog collection. I really shouldn't have spent the money but I bought the hamburger bag for 1,500,000 won. Later I found out that "last one" line was just a sales tactic.

           

RESORT22 MOSCHINO ⓒMOSCHINO

   

Q5. If one of your digital works could come alive in the real world, which character would you want it to be? What story do you want to share with that character?

I want to meet the middle-aged dog man who appeared in the video work it's not a dog. I'm curious if he would be cute or just look like a middle-aged man. Would he speak human language or bark like a dog? I want to talk to him to figure out his personality and see if I should treat him like a pet or like an uncle.

            

 

Q6. Watching that video gave us a few more questions. How was the dog uncle born?

I've always loved animals. I was walking in Mangwon one day and saw a poodle walking with its owner. It’s face was covered so I could only see it’s body next to the owner’s legs. Since I couldn't see the dog's face, I just started imagining how cute it would be. Then I thought, what if it’s not cute? And I ended up picturing it combined with the face of the ugliest thing in the world.

 

             

Q7. Which of your recent works was the most fun to create?

Recently I got obsessed with “Backrooms” and searched everything on NamuWiki. Then I made a backroom myself which was so much fun. Backrooms are usually portrayed as an infinite space, but when I make something in 3D making a space infinite is impossible. I can see the end of it. So in that sense I felt like a staff member building a set for a movie, and it made me think more about how I can trick the audience’s eyes. Creating the creature that appears in the backroom was fun too. It was an interesting project in many ways.

         

Q8. We're curious about your workflow. If you have a sketchbook or something like that, can you give us a peek?

First the tools depend on what I want to make but roughly they are divided into three: iPad, Oculus Quest 2 (VR headset), and computer.

        

 

When a weird thought suddenly pops up or a video plays in my head or I hear a funny conversation on the street I write it down immediately in a notebook or on my phone and do a rough sketch. I'm the type who gets lost when working without a sketch so I always start by drawing something even if it's messy. After that, I start working with the tools I mentioned above.

     

Scribble-filled work notebook

   

When I need to work carefully I use the iPad, and when I need inspiration or to work on the big picture I use the Oculus Quest 2. Then I move the files to the computer and use a 3D program to render the final image or video.

        

Damo wearing an Oculus Quest 2 

 

Q9. Then what is the biggest source of inspiration for Damo these days?

 

 

I have a friend who does 2D animation. When we meet we talk about a bunch of weird stories and share all kinds of bizarre imaginations. That friend likes creating creatures so she always teaches me weird things too. Since we both make art, we spend a lot of time thinking together about how to bring our ideas to life. We also share other artists we find doing interesting work, too.

            

ⓒ@55ooofff, @cleeekyu

   

If you search @cleeekyu on Instagram you can see her work.

She’s a friend who really helps me a lot and gives me tons of inspiration. She is usually someone who likes gore and violent movies, but not too long ago when I peeled the skin off my lip she freaked out. It was hilarious seeing her faint over a little bit of skin when she watches those violent movies just fine.

             

Q10. Which of the characters you’ve made do you think resembles you the most?

 

I don't have much narcissism in me, so I don't think I make characters that look like me. Friends tell me the characters look like me and I guess that's unavoidable since I see my own face in the mirror every morning. I usually try hard not to project my personality onto them. 

 

The one I think resembles me a little is the short-haired character in o you love me?

 

 

That character is connected physically to a lover. While drinking coffee the short-haired character asks "Do you love me?", but the lover hesitates and answers "No I don't love you." So the short-haired character cuts off the torso connecting them and blood goes everywhere. I think that extreme personality is similar to mine.

             

              

Q11. If the real Damo is hidden in your work, where can we find it?

I wonder if the asymmetric and incomplete forms in my work reflect my imperfect self. 

When looking at the "perfect life" society demands at my age, I feel pressure. I tell myself everyone's life is different and you can live well without following that path.

             

         

Q12. What does it mean to be perfect? Do you have a role model?

Tim Burton. He makes movies with exactly the imagery he wants, but even he did a few commercial ones. At times like that I remember my mom saying you can't live just doing whatever you want. I wonder if Tim Burton also did things he didn't want to do.

          

Tim Burton’s The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy

 

Q13. We read that weird dreams are often the source of your work, but also that you don't dream much these days. We’d say the world in our dreams isn’t that different from reality, So we’re curious what yours are like. Any memorable dreams recently?

Lately I don't really have weird dreams either. I think they have become very realistic.

 

Mango living well and healthy

    

Instead I think I started dreaming about worries buried deep in my heart. It’s very painful when I come face to face in my dreams with the things I’ve been trying to ignore. The worst is when they’re about my cat Mango who is getting old. If I dream that she runs or passes away, it feels like torture. Even though in reality she is healthy and fine.

 

Q14. Do you have a favourite word or phrase?

“Gross”.

 

 

It is a word that soft-hearted people frequently say when they unexpectedly encounter my work. The more I hear words like “gross”, “scary”, “weird” or “eww”, the prouder I feel.

 

Q15. What kind of artist do you want to be?

I want to be an artist who makes work that just makes you laugh and smirk when you look at it, but you can also think deeply about.

 

 

Q16. Is there one thing you want to tell to the world?

Stop fighting everyone. Just get along.