Korean Stories of Heritage and Resilience
Waiting for Darkness
For North Koreans, darkness is the safest time to escape.
Acrylic on canvas.
24" x 60" 2011
Conversation
For many Korean's have lived closely with death and have experienced great loss. It is part of the culture to venerate the dead. Those who have passed have continued presence and influence.
Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 36" 2010
Protest
Acrylic on Canvas 30" x 30" 2011
Hang On Sister
After the years of Japanese occupation and the Korean War. The Korean Landscape was scrubbed bare. For those fleeing North Korea it, the land did not protect - there was no place to hide. Or find shelter.
Acrylic on Canvas, 35x40, 2007
Sarangheyo Halmoni (Grandmother Love)
In the past Korean grandparents had a lead role in raising children. My mother shared good memories of her hard working grandmother.
Acrylic on canvas, 36"x36", 2009
Not Recieved
Many families were torn apart because of the division of Korea. Many despite efforts to reach out and find lost family members never successfully contact loved ones.
Acrylic and Acrylic Transfer on Canvas 54"x54"
Line Up
There is a great deal of symbolism in this painting. The umbrella is over the head of a Korean scholar with the false promise of protection but is upside down - taking rather than protecting. The orange spheres represent millet, and the lining up of Koreans and the lesser quality grains doled out during the colonial occupation.
Acrylic and acrylic transfer on canvas board 24" x 36"
Imo and Eggi (Aunt and Baby)
My mother had an aunt in North Korea who had eleven children. She said that in all of her memories, her aunt had a baby strapped to her back. This amazing woman even harvested with a baby on her back.
Acrylic on canvas paper 27" x 34" 2007
Water
Acrylic on canvas board 24" xx 36" 2007
Arrirang
There are may versions of the Korean folk song Arrirang. Some call it the anthem of Korean. It means different things to different people. It is about unrequited love, filial piety, or even a mountain pass. Which ever meaning one aspires to, Arrirang is a common thread amongst all Korean's and can make the Korean diaspora long for home.
Acrylic and acrylic transfer on canvas 18" x 24" 2007
Into The Night
My mother escaped North Korea with her younger brother at night. They became separated and never saw one another again. North Koreans are still trying to make that dangerous escape at night.
Acrylic on canvas, 20" x 36" 2008
Oori Eggi (Our Baby)
Korean's use the term "we" rather than "my" when referring to a family member. It is humble statement that we belong to one another and do not possess one another.
Acrylic on canvas 40" x 40" 2010
Mogo (Eat)
So much of my mother's identity (and conversely mine) was caught up in eating and feeding her family. Even when her children were full, she continued to say, "Mogo" (eat). I think she was trying to feed the little girl within herself who never got enough to eat...and she was simply a Korean mother.
Acrylic on canvas paper, 37"x 40" 2008
We Use To Grow Rice
My mother's family had a farm in North Korea that was systematically stripped from them during the Japanese occupation. My mother's closest sibling was a younger brother whom she escaped with. Unfortunately, they became separated and she never saw him again. This is a masculine version of my mother so that I could have "a picture" of my uncle.
Acrylic on canvas 48"x 48" 2009
Claimed Baggage
My mother said that when the Americans and the U.N. came to Korea, many children were orphaned and separated from their families. Even though the children were treated kindly, by these armed forces, they were often tagged for sorting (like luggage) and very frightened.
Hurt
I was inspired to paint this after I read about Kim Ok Sun's account of being a "Comfort" woman during the Japanese occupation. At the age sixteen she was forced to sexually service up to seventy men a day for seven years. She is still waiting for an apology from the Japanese government.
Acrylic on canvas 20" x 20 " 2009
Time
Many of the surviving "Comfort Women" are living communally in a state funded home. These Halmoni (grandmothers), share a horrific past and lost youth.
Acrylic on canvas 54" x 54" 2010
War is Over
My mother and many others of her generation have this photo of them and usually with their best friend taken in front of a rice field or some other rural setting squatting down near each other for the camera. This is my mother, Kim Okchun and her best friend my ajumma. I believe that these type of pictures were taken after the war as a marker of hope for a beautiful future.
36"x 36" Acrylic and Acrylic transfer on canvas 2011
The Last Queen
Empress Myeongseong, aka Queen Min, was the last Queen of Korea. Min was a strong ruler and took a harsh stance against the Japanese. The queen's story is one of great interest and a hot topic in South Korea today ....there are more Queen Min pictures and stories to come. Check back for updates.
Acrylic on canvas 36' x 36" 2011