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One of the most commonly found plants in Glasgow city is Buddleia. It even grows on roofs, in a slight gap between brick walls with very little soil. I wanted to represent this plant as the old masters of ink painting drew four gentlemen plants using simple brush strokes. Like all four noble plants represent the virtue of Confucian men, such as noble spirit, loyalty, and fidelity, I thought Buddleia could embody the spirit of the Glasgow city or people of Glasgow, such as resilience of mind and vitality. Interestingly, although this plant is occupying empty spaces in Glasgow city, such as construction sites, urban parking lots, and shabby walls and roofs of old buildings, it is not a native plant. Buddleia is endemic to Asia, America, and Africa. Specifically, the most common species found in Glasgow is called self-seeding ‘Buddleia davidii’, which was brought to the UK from China in the 1890s and became widespread as a weed after World War II. It rushed like wildfire through freshly exposed bomb sites and grew without abandon in towns and cities.

Buddleia’s branch is thin and pliable, like an orchid's leaves. Its flower has a long body and dark skin.

Buddleja's branch is thin and pliable, like an orchid's leaves. Its flower has a long body and dark skin.

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An experiment for observing an interplay between different painting surfaces.

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How does the light in the pictorial space influence identifying the cultural origin of the painting?

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How does the light in the pictorial space influence identifying the cultural origin of the painting?

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For instance, in this painting, I mimicked the traditional brush strokes representing leaves. But the unusual element in this work is the windowsill which implies the different light values in the indoor space. Due to the contrast of colours, shapes, and the curtain's texture, this work looks a bit bizarre.

In the convention of traditional East Asian ink paintings, painters did not consider the existence of light as the crucial element in representation. They were aware of its pictorial impact but did not believe that the temporary and ever-changing light was not a vital element to represent the essence of nature or figure. The more important thing is capturing the 'energy' of the object through lines, forms, and colours. I was curious how this traditional belief could be challenged or developed when the typical line drawing or painting is juxtaposed with unconventional elements (in this case, the implication of light and tone).

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At first, I wanted to create the interplay between images on two or multiple silk layers, but I found it challenging because the first image often overpowers the other. To render the subtle overlaying impact, I had to reduce the physical distance between two layers, but this also was not easy because stretching silk requires thick wood stretcher bars.

So instead of painting on fabrics, I decided to experiment with using the three-dimensional space and wall space to see how the image on the environment (the pictorial space out of the picture frame) can create an interaction with the image in the picture frame.

The images on the wall have not been completed yet.

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Sketch

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It will be paired with the other painting that has the same size as this one. Since January, I have been unable to get stretcher bars because of the national lockdown.

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The Sun, The Moon, and The Five Peaks [일월오봉도;日月五峯圖]

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The Sun, The Moon, and The Five Peaks [일월오봉도;日月五峯圖]

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The year of creation and the name of the artists are unknown. The folding screens with this specific image were used to decorate the royal palace in Joseon dynasty Korea.

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Copying The Sun, The Moon, and The Five Peaks, watercolour on paper, 21 x 29.7 cm, 2021

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The Sun and the Moon and Five Peaks is a traditional painting on a folding screen that symbolised the king's power and authenticity in the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897), Korea. However, I am not interested in the cultural/historical context of the image but in the image itself - the pictorial reality it has, which shows the two orbs of the sky on the same surface. Other elements, such as the five peaks and the ocean, also denote the most important elements that comprise the world. This image manifests a compact, compressed perspective of understanding the world by depicting the essential natural elements: two orbs, mountains, and water. It shows the extensive yet condensed perspective on nature, which is beyond the cultural or national borderlines. In that sense, although it has a specific historical meaning related to the old monarchy in Korea, I thought it could be read as a universal landscape.

I wanted to expand the meaning of this work by focusing on nature and my personal narrative of floating between two lands.

As a Korean who lives in the UK, I feel that I live in two countries; even though my body is in a certain space, my mind cannot be settled in only one place or culture. In my mind, there are always the sun and the moon together because although my body is in the UK, I am also thinking about my loved ones in South Korea. Even when I am walking in the daylight, part of my heart is looking at the moonlight, thinking about my family. I am somewhere between day and night.

So, I imagine living in a world where I can see two orbs of the sky. I see the trees and the river that reflect the glimpse of sunshine. Still, I also feel the other things that only emerge with the dim moonlight. I wish people could imagine a landscape without location, the perpetual oscillation between the day and night, and the people who have been crossing the land between the sun and the moon.

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Transition of the context of the orchid as one of the four gentlemen/noble ones: it might be dependent on the size, shape, materiality, and the colour of the image. e.g. the combination of white and blue like a dutch/danish porcelain.

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Difference between transparent ground + opaque paints and transparent ground + transparent paints

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Oil on linen, 100 x 100cm, 2021

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Several points for further analysis regarding current research/practice

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Several points for further analysis regarding current research/practice

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1.     Investigating relationships between a ‘painting’ and ‘painted object’; refining a definition of painting in my research context

2.     Context of overlapping/conflating images in my works:

2.1.   A way of presenting the reality that I have been experiencing for a few years, floating between two countries, learning different traditions and languages of painting practices.

2.2.   Visual experimentations for displaying images that have different painting styles and manners and exploring how they interact and what they create when they are put together on the same two-dimensional surface.

3.     Usage of silk:

3.1.   Its historical context as a luxurious import from Asia.

3.2.   Its semi-translucent materiality which allows multiple ways of interpreting images depending on the direction of light.

Potential visual impact and symbolic meaning of blurring specific images when multiple layers of silk are overlapped.

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Considering the ratio of folding screens, I put six canvases in a row for one big painting, with dimensions of 120 x 300 cm. I plan to prime and sand it several times to make the silky texture and paint a landscape with gold paint. Although I have not started it yet, I feel that this one might play a significant role in making other works look more cohesive by giving more clues about the images, styles, and painting manners I am playing with.

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But what if the orchid is painted on a bigger canvas with more 'apparent' brush strokes? Does the scale of the painting contribute to making it chinoiserie-like or craft-like?

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How can hybrid painting practice, which utilises both characteristics of oil painting and ink painting, be used to dismantle the dichotomy between Eastern and Western art?

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3. Applying characteristics of art objects for painting practice

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3. Applying characteristics of art objects for painting practice

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3.1. Making ‘objectified’ paintings focuses on creating paintings with unique materiality, shape, and characteristics as an object rather than making images or marks on a flat, neutral surface.

3.2. Appropriating patterns, materiality, and colour palette of historical art objects,

3.2.1. which were produced as a result of cultural exchange between Britain and East Asia (e.g., porcelain, lacquerware, japanning, and other chinoiseries),

3.2.2. which are often perceived as traditionally British (e.g., stained glass, architectural elements such as the shape of windows, medieval tapestry).

By appropriating visual characteristics of art objects which manifest cultural and commercial interrelationships between Britain and East Asia, it interrogates how the belief of alleged ‘national’ or ‘traditional’ aesthetic could be deconstructed. It also asks why the cultural dichotomy in ‘fine art’, specifically in ‘painting’, has remained solid despite a broad range of art objects which were produced as a result of cultural exchange between Britain and East Asia.

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2. Overlapping multiple images, painting styles, and layers

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2. Overlapping multiple images, painting styles, and layers

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By juxtaposing the traditional East Asian ink painting manner with non-conventional visual elements on a singular surface, it explores how the meaning of conventional East Asian painting styles and icons can be extended when they are located in non-traditional settings. Also, it examines how the combination of traditional and non-traditional elements in painting practice can create a new context for interpreting ‘cultural tradition’.

2.1. Using an opaque ground

2.2. Using a translucent or semi-translucent ground

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1. Appropriating the traditional painting manner of East Asian ink painting by using oil paint

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1. Appropriating the traditional painting manner of East Asian ink painting by using oil paint

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Based on the prevalent notion of Oriental/Western painting dichotomy in East Asia, it experiments with how switching painting mediums can dismantle the previous idea of ‘East versus West’ and ‘Ink versus Oil’. Furthermore, it explores how the change of medium affects the process of painting and the representation of images.

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The orchid is one of the most common subjects in traditional East Asian ink painting. It is one of the four gentlemen [四君子], also called the Four Noble Ones, which refers to four plants in East Asia: the plum blossom [梅], the orchid [蘭], the chrysanthemum [菊], and the bamboo [竹],

I followed the traditional guidelines of painting orchids but changed the colour palette and medium. What would this change bring to interpreting the cultural/symbolic meaning of the orchid?

While the blue and white colour palette likens it to a chinoiserie pattern on porcelain, the negative lines of the orchid pattern on the glossy wood panel look like the old tiles in tenement buildings.

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I added a white last layer on top of many translucent layers, which made the background too blurry at the end. Initially, I intended to blend two images of an old mountain landscape and the living room of my parent's apartment.

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Work in progress. Experiments of overlapping multiple images and painting styles, juxtaposing and compressing different spaces and time on a singular surface.

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Practice for overlapping images on a translucent ground.

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The back side of silk painting with masking tape

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Shimmering gold paint

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Due to the transparency, silk paintings look different when the light is behind them.

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Self-portrait

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Painting on objects; painting as an object?

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Painting on objects; painting as an object?

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Painting on a ready-made terracotta pot.

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Moved to the new studio in Glasgow Independent Studio, Trongate 103

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Moved to the new studio in Glasgow Independent Studio, Trongate 103

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Editing the initial PhD research proposal

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Editing the initial PhD research proposal

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Some sketches

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1. Different types of silk:
a. more translucent yet thinner one
b. less translucent but sturdy one
2. Different types of stretcher + frame

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Experiments with wood frames: shape and thicnkness

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Some interesting elements to explore a bit further...
1. transparency/opaqueness of oil paint applied to silk
2. Practical methods of installing paintings and their relation to use external lights
3. Visual and practical functions of the wood frame

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1. Develop, interrogate, and articulate the practical methodology for the project. The methodology should be expanded to include the rich exploration of material described, critical reflection on studio practice.

2. A finer focus of tone, context, and terminology should be developed.

3. Explore a conceptual drawing as a means of planning or anticipating the development of studio practice.

4. Write a ‘practice log’ to document and analyse studio practice.

5. Make an anticipated timeline of development for the 2020/21 academic session.