Florida Family Tree

Family Tree Portraits

I have been studying Korean traditional paintings for more than twenty years, and have made many reproductions of royal portraiture from the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). In analyzing the portrait techniques employed in the Joseon period, I found many unique characteristics and modes of expression. I have worked with and studied Joseon portraits so much that I find myself reinterpreting the faces of people around me.  When I look at people, I often see them in the Joseon style in my mind’s eye. I even began to imagine non-Korean people as Korean traditional portraits.

From 2013 to 2016, I lived in Florida, USA, creating portraits of my in-laws. The subjects featured in this exhibition are Clarence and Marge Groves along with their daughter Terry and her husband John Cumberledge, John and Terry’s three sons with their wives, and the family dogs Kobe and Dexter. As a part of this family, I was amazed at how close and connected everyone was, despite their being a multicultural family based on the cultures of different regions and countries. Even their dogs are recognized as family members. I wanted to represent all these family members who respect each other.

In this exhibition, each portrait reveals the character and personality of the individual, and the complete installation reveals their family tree.

Korean Traditional Portraits

The Korean traditional royal portraiture was made by the greatest painters of the time and displays traditional painting techniques at their highest level. I have made reproductions of portraits of the Kings Taejo, Wonjong, Yeongjo, and Sunjong (owned by the National Palace Museum of Korea), as well as a portrait of King Gojong (owned by the National Museum of Korea). I tried to learn more about the virtues of the Joseon portraits by reproducing them. Through this process, I was able to fully understand the features of traditional portraiture, and I performed extensive research about its materials and techniques.

The process of making traditional portraits begins with a sketching process in which the subject is sketched onto paper. This is followed by a tracing process in which one paints the image on a silk canvas with ink. Next are two stages of coloring, first the back of the silk canvas is colored, followed by the front. The coloring of the back side of the portrait is important, because the silk canvas is partially transparent, which allows the color to show through.

Coloring is done with traditional pigments that can be divided into two categories: inorganic and organic. Inorganic pigments are mineral stones and white lead (which is a synthetic mineral), etc. Organic pigments are carmine, gamboge and indigo, etc. Although there are many variations in the use of pigments, there are some common conventions. For example, the back of the face is always painted in white lead mixed with either inorganic pigments or organic pigments, while the front of the face is painted with layers of cinnabar (an inorganic pigment) along with layers of organic pigments.

Although the portraits in the Florida Family Tree exhibition borrow many features from Joseon dynasty portraiture, there are several differences between the portraits in this exhibition and traditional Korean portraits. First, the exhibition features portraits of non-Korean people.  The colors of the skin, hair, eyes, etc. are more varied and the structures and shapes of the faces also differ. Second, there are many portraits of women in the exhibition.  Few portraits of women made in the early Joseon period have survived, and in the mid-Joseon dynasty, women were rarely painted due to the cultural influence of Confucianism.  In this exhibition, there are an equal number of women and men, and the women have the right side—rather than the traditional left side—of their faces depicted, so that each couple is facing each other.

Some traditional techniques have been used in new ways to depict more modern objects.  For example, in the portraits from the 17th century, Chinese rugs are depicted by colored dots. In the portraits of Clarence and Marge Groves, the actual carpet in their home has been represented by similar dots. In the Joseon Dynasty, golden objects were depicted by applying gold leaf to the back of the canvas and gold powder to the front. In my portraits, I applied this same technique to modern items such as watches, glasses, brooches, and shoes. These are just a couple of the ways that I used traditional portraiture techniques to depict objects of the present.

I would like to keep studying traditional paintings and painting various subjects from my own point of view. Every person I meet is a potential subject, and I will keep refining my techniques and style with each new portrait.

Summer, 2017
Doo Hee Chung