Gugbo #169 Painting

Identity is a concept that requires others, and so is my painting. The surface you see is not a pure abstract expression of color, they are a direct reference and intricate depiction of the glazed exterior of cheongja, celadon, which is a type of transparent blue green ceramic glaze that is highly valued in Asia. I wanted to bring Korean Celadon masters’ craftsmanship into my work by appropriating the process of making traditional Celadon into a painterly medium. So I begin with clay color as a base layer to emulate the property of raw clay. Then I add layers of blue green colors similar to celadon and sand them back down to get a smooth surface like ceramic, but without reflective quality. Lately, I have been making paint out of celadon clay to further explore materiality between ceramic and painting. Even though I am borrowing the process of ceramic, It is important that my work stays in the realm of painting, because I’m interested in the tension or transformation that happens when an ancient artifacts like Korean National Treasure #169 is translated into a painting. This translation creates the subtle shift between image and object and as well as subject and object.