Lapis lazuli, seashell & mineral stone pigments, india ink on silk
12×16” / 31×41cm

This work is part of an ongoing series called Plantes planètes which I began in 2018. Each June I’ve been creating nature morte/still lives of peonies. The cosmic and planetary shape of the buds, and the complex exuberant cellular layers of the petals and leaves are endlessly fascinating for me. It’s a slow dance; there is so much movement.

This practice is also related to connecting to my Korean heritage via this longstanding artistic tradition and trope. For me, it’s a meditative practice on the cycle of life, though with the annual ritual I’ve noticed the blooming starts earlier with our changing climate.

I’m interested in thinking about this series as portraits (challenging the philosophical genre of ‘nature morte’); there’s an intimacy now in my relationship with these plant friends and kin who I relate to every early summer. This particular series for me has a relationship to the idea of being held together, as each singular organic form is also distinctly intertwined in becoming something together.
There is a sense of simultaneous distinctness & unification.

What does it mean to become together?
What separates?
What unites?
What grows?
What expands?
Where do we come from?
Where are we going?
With whom?