"Generations"
Study in Primary and Secondary Colors and their Tints, Tones, and Shades to create Overlapping and Transparencies
An acryla-guache painting of red, yellow, blue, violet, green, and orange in different hues on vertical registers broken up by horizontal and diagonal lines and circles.
Honestly, I surprise myself by how often I make a 'school project' a personal piece. This particular project was inspired by one my mother did in college. From a young age, I was always fascinated by the large silk canvas that was never hung on the wall because we were moving so often.
The silk strips were held together by a determined seam, without regard to what was once a neatly painted flower. My mother had cut her painting out of disappointment. But at her professor's urging to complete her project, she hastily had a seamstress sew it back together. But, not to recreate the flower. She purposefully had the panels disjointed and off-set. The overall image now evokes the intention of a more abstract design. But perhaps it really was meant to be.... I have long noticed that the petals were drawn with strict angles, the outlines creating a strict contrast with the soft, traditional colors. And despite having known the story behind the piece, I've always still considered it perfect.
When I started this project, I instantly thought of my mother's work. I don't really know how my mind went there. Perhaps it is a true successor.
Background image is the silk painting from the description.
Memento Mori Still Life
Charcoal drawing of a still life display in the style of Memento Mori
"This Man"
An acryla-guache painting of Seventeen's Jeonghan from the JxW album in blue tints and shades
"City of the Future"
Charcoal drawing of imaginative future of Savannah, Georgia
I depicted that strange and solemn image with a tinge of sorrow. 할머니 crosses a stream into distant mountains in one single step, her oblivious burden reaching out at in his own little world.
But the baby is now taller than me, about to leave for his own adventure. And 할머니 did pass out of sight one day. And I am left with my mother, to remember, each in our own way.
<할머니> "Grandmother"
A paper collage of plants and animals on an ink-wash painting of mountains.
When I started working on this project, I was suddenly sent back to an early memory. One that has returned again and again.
In the memory, everything is hazy and gray. I think my mother was walking me back from kindergarten. My grandmother was carrying my baby brother. We were approaching an intersection in a open place under development. The sky was somehow overcast and bright at the same time. I don't think the traffic light was functional. There wasn't enough traffic in the area. The few drivers that passed by knew that and sped through the area like it was a highway.
And, to my mother's horror, 할머니 (Grandmother) crossed in the middle of the street.
I distinctly remember feeling my mother's fear. And for some reason, I was calm. I did know what was going on and why my mother was scared. But I decided to not be afraid, I think, because my mother was afraid. How strange....
The memory also carries a bond through time. My grandmother, who grew up in a time when going to kindergarten wasn't even an option, my mother, who had once experienced being hit by a car, and me. Toddling along in their world, slowly realizing how much bigger and older it is than me.
And the memory begins to fade. My mother's shouts don't seem to reach 할머니. She faces away from us towards her own destination.
