"People know me from fashion shows and magazines, but they would never associate me with art," explains Sang Woo Kim at his debut art exhibition in Berlin's Magic Beans gallery. "I'm trying to show here that I'm just as human as anyone else so they can see who I really am," says the 22-year-old artist who resorted to modeling to make money for his art which explores current issues and racism.

Shortly after he was born, his family moved from South Korea to London. "I lived in a very British society but had very Korean parents, so I lived in this cultural duality, two sets of rules and values. For example, my parents would send me to a very good school, but they wouldn't realize I'd be the only Korean boy there - they had a completely different, a sort of naive way of looking at things.”

Sang's distinct appearance has scored him lucrative modeling contracts, but being the center of attention wasn't always easy. "This painting is a metaphor on how people made fun of my eyes at school. They were like: 'How can you see out of that?'," he says. Although he always took such remarks with humor, they obviously stuck in his mind, as themes of seeing and looking invade most of his work.

"I don't think the kids were really being racist - kids just say things. But fashion is so full of racism," he says, standing at a wall covered with run-down prints on linen, resembling an eloquent photo roll on which he becomes almost unrecognizable. "I mean, I know it's just modeling, but we as models should represent all ethnicities. So why isn't everyone's ethnicity equal at castings?"

At Sang's exhibition, the personal gets global very quickly. "I am an immigrant, and it's horrifying to see how immigrants are treated nowadays because of politicians who want to seize power and the media that support them," he says. "Racism and violence towards others is something I haven't been able to understand to this day, which is maybe why I am so obsessed with it."

Reflecting current events, the exhibition's paintings were all created in the last four months: "There must be a reason why things like Brexit and Trump are happening. Art is my way of getting to that point." Some works resemble post-World War II expressionism, others emulate pages from a private diary, with one painting halfway between Russian propaganda and an American action hero movie poster.

Although the exhibition showcases Sang's artworks, part of it is dedicated to photos he took with fellow models during the most mundane activities, providing a backstage look to the uninitiated. "You'd never see Kiki like that!," he says, referring to one photo of top model Kiki Willems drinking lemonade in a sweatshirt with her hair pulled back.

"When I was a kid, I tried to conform, to be a normal British kid. I say I was 'bleached,' I wasn't myself, which is maybe why I talk like this," he utters jokingly in the authentic BBC English accent. "Why am I so different? That was the hardest question for me to ask when I was a boy," he adds. Judging from the exhibition, he's found a few universal answers since.