Opal: Hi. Um, I’m going to start with a bit of a wildcard that I’ve been thinking about the last couple of days. Do you believe in reincarnation?
Yiseul: I cannot say I really believe in it, but I have definitely imagined it 1,000,000 times
Opal: What do you think, if it were to be true? What do you think one of your past lives was?
Yiseul: My past life… I think I had to be really mean.
Opal: Mean?
Yiseul: Yeah, because I feel like I’m getting punished now! Or I was a really serious criminal.
Opal: That’s exciting, at least!
Yiseul: Or like in the wild animal kingdom, I was a predator. Maybe not even human.
Opal: Yeah, I forgot about that. I feel like we’re going into the non-human. I’m really into just space and the universe. It would be cool to just be a speck out there somewhere. Being an astronaut would be too boring and intense for me, but I’d rather just live and be a part of what’s out there.
Yiseul: You don’t feel gravity; you’re just floating around like a little dust. Oh, that’s interesting. See, you’re not really attached to any “Earth” thing.
Opal: No, just way out there. Tell me more about Die Cute. I’m so excited to see it.
Yiseul: Die Cute is literally: I’m going to die super cute.
Opal: Super cute. Yeah. What was the birth of Die Cute? Where did it start?
Yiseul: It started with me worrying about death. It’s not really about my own death. It’s a funny thing—when I was in high school, I thought I was going to die at 37. I didn’t have a desire to live a long life. I thought by 37 I would achieve something and then die. Well, I’m already passing that age!
Opal: So you keep going?
Yiseul: Yeah. I have a single mother, and the thought of losing her is where it started. My mom is very direct, opinionated, and judgmental. But something we both like is “cute.” We agree on aesthetic things.
Opal: It’s like combining the two.
Yiseul: Yeah. She doesn’t approve of a lot of things I do, but she approves of a “cute” quality. And losing somebody is something that really scared me for a long time. Sometimes that fear is so big I cannot function. This is my way to live with it—experimenting with cuteness.
Opal: I really relate to the fear of death. I have health anxiety. If I have a little cough, I’m like, “Oh, I’m dying.” Just last night I thought a little gas was a heart attack! My grandma died recently, and although we weren’t close, I’ve been interested in training to be a death doula—an end-of-life doula. If you’re afraid of something, the best thing to do is what you’re doing: immerse yourself in it.
Opal: Correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s a casket in the show. When you do die, do you know what you want to happen to your body? You can be turned into a tree or have a Viking funeral.
Yiseul: I feel like I want to be stuck with you. I want to be someone else’s nightmare.
Opal: You want to haunt? You want your ghost to remain?
Yiseul: I mean, not really “haunt,” but you can see it that way. I’m going to be cremated and be basically powdered. And you’d think you could vacuum it, but you cannot completely get rid of me. I’m always going to be a little bit left. A particle that you can’t get out.
Opal: I like the idea of always being there. You can never get rid of me! This might be a spoiler, but why bunnies? Are they the cutest animal?
Yiseul: I don’t think a bunny is the cutest. My dog, Dr. Pepper, is! But I was born in the Year of the Rabbit. A bunny looks very vulnerable at the bottom of the animal kingdom, but they have sharp teeth and can attack you.
Opal: I feel like we’re similar in how we put ourselves into the work. For me, it’s a language. I’m not eloquent with words, but I can communicate through visuals.
Yiseul: I want to know what the audience is thinking. Sometimes I directly ask, “What is your secret?” I’m not a social person, but I care about individual character. I want to show how much I care about their personality.
Opal: Your work is very unique and authentic. You can tell there is so much intentionality behind it.
Yiseul: Thank you. I’m knocking on every single door. It takes forever, but that’s how I have to do it.
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