Mikhail Karikis | Sea Women

An artist book on the community of the haenyeo, female sea-workers on the North Pacific island of Jeju. The haenyeo dive up to eight times a day to depths of up to twenty meters with no oxygen supply to catch seafood, collect seaweed and find pearls. Each dive lasts up to two minutes and is punctuated by a combination of sounds, including a high-pitched breathy shriek or whistle. The diving women make a living by constantly negotiating the limits of that which sustains them, their breath. This publication seeks to materialize this negotiation through the materiality of a printed publication as well as the layout of its content.