In January 2025, as we prepared for the “Darkness” exhibition in Seoul, we reached out globally, inviting individuals to anonymously share their deepest fears. Each submission was then thoughtfully paired with one or multiple artwork that resonate with the essence of that fear.
The Wall of Fears serves as a mirror to our shared vulnerabilities. As you explore below, you may find reflections of your own fears, reminding us that in facing darkness, we find connection.
If a piece speaks to you, it may be yours to keep. Limited artworks from this collection are available for acquisition.
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My worst nightmare is that when I come to the end of my life, I will look back on it all and be filled with regret. I fear that I will let fear itself rule my life and keep me from taking risks and exploring new adventures. I will live a mundane, ordinary life always wondering “what if” and realize as I take my dying breath, that I was a coward all along.
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Since my teenage years, I have had very low self-confidence and sense of self-worth and up until now in my thirties, I mainly had a bad image of myself. I still often see myself as someone unworthy of being loved or considered.
My deepest fear is that the people I love and value see myself through my eyes, for what I believe I am, and leave. I fear ending up alone because people will finally realize that I am not worth their time and effort.
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My worst nightmare is seeing my family in bad shape, whether they’re affected by illness or the thought of losing them. Recently, I dreamt that my father was diagnosed with cancer again, and I had to decide whether to let him undergo a new, stronger treatment that could leave him disabled for life or let him live with the illness and slowly fade away. It was a distressing night, and since then, it has been haunting me.
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The apocalypse—the complete and final destruction of the world as described in the Bible—seems to be drawing nearer with each passing day, fueled by rumors of a nuclear-led World War III.
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My worst nightmare is waking up to the news that something horrible has happened to my family, in particular, my wife or my two daughters. I’ve seen horrible things both in fiction and in real life, such as the tragic losses of spouses, children, siblings, and other loved ones. I know loss is a part of life, but the tragedy of lives cut short, such as seemingly young and healthy people becoming terminally sick or getting into horrific accidents sometimes haunts me to the point where I can’t sleep because I’m imagining what life would be like without someone, how I would go on, etc.
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My worst fear is to see my health getting worse. I have been struggling with health issues with my neck, back, eye, and headache. It damages my life quality. I’m afraid it will get worse.
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Certainly the fear to regress, revert to a worse self, and to fail. That efforts, time, faith in action, and even actual achievements may end up being vain (like walking through the right path but drifting away out of fear, selfishness, pride, or distraction). Wasting, undeserving an heritage of blessings that was promised from grace and obedience. Maybe disappointing the people who matter the most (God and beloved ones), or differing from what I am meant to become, according to my potential, my best and most real self.
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My biggest fear has always been to be rejected by people whom I trust and love dearly, unexpectedly. I always tend to create tons of scenarios in my head, and it hurts my relationships. I’m working on it, but it’s not easy.
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I do not fear death. I fear that I may die just before my potential is fully realized, leaving the world without my imprint.
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I fear stagnation more than failure. To never grow, never change—to be trapped in a loop of my own making—this is my worst nightmare.
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My worst nightmare would be to be immortal and to survive my beloved ones. To see people you love fading while you remain is so scary. You end up alone without a reason to live. No one to share with and in the end you might even loose the ability to find interest in relationships etc…
And for me, that’s what makes us also humans. This capacity to give, to share, to be devoted yo something or someone.
And for me, that’s what makes us also humans. This capacity to give, to share, to be devoted yo something or someone.
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Helplessness. To be trapped, and unable to do anything to deter the pestilence of the greedy one percent gnawing away at everything I hold dear. Riding on clouds of roiling darkness and spreading their skeletal fingers to grasp at whatever they can take with impunity, the horrors grin with wicked, rotten fangs and stare with empty, abyssal eyes.
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Being not able to bloom my potential while I am young.
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I am scared of frogs. As a kid, I once witnessed a frog get flattened by a car and see it stumble around the street with its guts hanging out and arms flailing about in pain. Ever since then, I feel a deep, unsettling anxiety whenever I see frogs, toads, or any other amphibians.
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la mort de mes parents et me retrouver seule, me laisser happée par le quotidien et devenir ‘anesthésiée’ et ne plus resentir et prendre plaisir au présent.
“The death of my parents and finding myself alone, being swept away by the daily grind, becoming ‘numb,’ no longer feeling or taking pleasure in the present.”
“The death of my parents and finding myself alone, being swept away by the daily grind, becoming ‘numb,’ no longer feeling or taking pleasure in the present.”
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Letting my own inner demons out and causing harm or pain to others… especially my loved ones.
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A trail of tears or being forgotten for many years. Feeling the human condition separate from nature is what brings me back from being under attack. When I think of a scary movie I think of The Never Ending Story. If reality was all that I had to worry about then I would say being torn apart by a pack of wild dogs fueled by psychedelic mushrooms. Other than that maybe quicksand. Thank you Jerzy and Jakub for your inspirations.
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Mon pire cauchemar est de faire des erreurs. Je suis une personne très exigeante envers moi même. Je déteste commettre de mauvais actes, ou me tromper.
“My worst nightmare is making mistakes. I am a very demanding person with myself. I hate committing bad deeds or being wrong.”
“My worst nightmare is making mistakes. I am a very demanding person with myself. I hate committing bad deeds or being wrong.”
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– le manque de temps
– ne pas être à la hauteur
– perdre un membre de ma famille
– ne pas finir ce que j’avais prévu de faire dans cette vie
– Lack of time
– Not measuring up
– Losing a family member
– Not finishing what I had planned to do in this life
– ne pas être à la hauteur
– perdre un membre de ma famille
– ne pas finir ce que j’avais prévu de faire dans cette vie
– Lack of time
– Not measuring up
– Losing a family member
– Not finishing what I had planned to do in this life
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알츠하이머. 내가 누군지, 내가 사랑하는 사람은 누군지, 여기는 어디인지, 내가 성취한 것은 무엇이었는지, 내가 행복했었던 적은 언제였는지, 내가 얻었던 경험은 무엇이었고 배웠던 게 어떤 게 있었는지, 내가 잘하는 것은 무엇이었는지, 곁에 있는 이 자들은 왜 날 쳐다보며 이런 표정을 짓고 있는지, 왜 감정조절은 안되는지, 나의 추억은 무엇이었는지, 왜 생리현상을 스스로 조절 못해 실수를 하는지, 내 집주소가 뭐였더라?, 저 무서운 젊은이가 나는 시선을 피하는데 자꾸 내 눈을 쳐다보며 뭐라고 말은 하는데 하나도 이해가 안돼… 근데 나 뭐하러 가고 있었지? 이런 식으로 나 자신을 점점 잃어가고 있는 것이 가장 두렵다.
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일이 끊임없이 떠올라 잠들기 직전까지 심시어 꿈속에서도 일을 합니다. 무엇인가를 놓치지 말아야겠다고 생각할수록 그것을 놓치는 꿈을 꾸죠. 너무 괴로워요.
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외로움, 고독함, 허무함, 공허함. 평소에 바쁘고 열심히 살다가도 쉬는 날 무언가 불편함을 느낀다. 한국인의 정서에는 부지런하고 열심히 살아야 생존할 수 있다는 정서가 보편적으로 깔려 있는 것 같다.
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죽음 : 대부분의 모든 걱정은 제가 스스로 이겨낼 자신이 있지만, 내 아이를 두고 병이 아닌 사고나 여러 이유로 먼저 죽을 수 있다는 죽음이 늘 저를 지배합니다.
10년전 아버지가 돌아가셨을 때도 저는 고작 30대였고, 이제는 어린 내 아이를 두고 이런 두려움을 가지고 삶을 살아가고 있으며 지금은 작품에서 미래에 대한 희망의 메세지를 강하게 담아 전하는 그림 작가가 되었습니다.
그럼에도 저의 이 두려움은… 근본적으로 “내가 어떻게 할 수 없는” 영역이라는 불안함 속에서 어쩌면 무기력함을 가지고 아직도 존재하는 것 같습니다.
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My worst nightmare is to lose my sense of self—to become trapped in a life where I am unable to express who I truly am. I fear being caged by expectations, losing the magnetic freedom that drives me, and succumbing to a life without excitement or boldness. The thought of being alone in a sea of people, unseen and unrecognized for my individuality, fills me with dread. It’s the fear of blending into a gray world, where my vibrancy and fire no longer shine.
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제 최악의 악몽은 나의 가장 깊은 곳에 있는 것이…인류를 향한 희생과 사명감, 종교적 헌신, 인간성, 영혼 같은 선한 것들이 아니라… 공허함과 악한 것들로 가득찬 깊은 어두움일지도 모른다는 내 오래된 생각이 결국 사실이었다는 것을 확인하게 되는 것입니다.
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Ma peur logique serait de perdre les membres de ma famille. Sinon, je me souviens d’avoir jouer à resident evil sur Dreamcast vers mes 10, 11ans et que le passage avec l’écorcheur (monstre humanoid sans visage avec une langue enorme, des dents acérées et écorché) m’avait traumatisé. J’en ai pas dormi de plusieurs nuits 😆
Il y a aussi se cauchemar ou tu te retrouves seul dans le jeu de dead space 😳
“My logical fear would be losing my family members. Otherwise, I remember playing Resident Evil on Dreamcast when I was around 10 or 11, and the encounter with the Licker
(a faceless humanoid monster with a huge tongue, sharp teeth, and skinned) traumatized me.
I couldn’t sleep for several nights 😆 There is also that nightmare where you’re alone in the game Dead Space 😳”
Il y a aussi se cauchemar ou tu te retrouves seul dans le jeu de dead space 😳
“My logical fear would be losing my family members. Otherwise, I remember playing Resident Evil on Dreamcast when I was around 10 or 11, and the encounter with the Licker
(a faceless humanoid monster with a huge tongue, sharp teeth, and skinned) traumatized me.
I couldn’t sleep for several nights 😆 There is also that nightmare where you’re alone in the game Dead Space 😳”
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Moim najgorszym koszmarem jest strata bliskich mi osób i bycie samotnym na świecie. Życie z samym sobą jest potrzebne i dużo uczy ale życie z innymi ludźmi jest o wiele lepsze i ciekawsze. Pomimo, że na świecie jest tylu ludzi, wciąż można czuć się samotnym, bez tych ważnych osób, które są wokół nas.
“My worst nightmare is losing the people close to me and being alone in the world. Living with oneself is necessary and teaches a lot, but living with others is much better and more interesting. Even though there are so many people in the world, one can still feel lonely without those important people who are around us.”
“My worst nightmare is losing the people close to me and being alone in the world. Living with oneself is necessary and teaches a lot, but living with others is much better and more interesting. Even though there are so many people in the world, one can still feel lonely without those important people who are around us.”