Kyung's Gift in Pojagi (From the series “Women in Possession of Good Fortune”)

In this mixed-media work, by Kira Nam Greene, the artist Kyung Jeon faces us with relaxed self-assurance. She is carefully positioned on her couch as her long black hair falls over her orange and turquoise tunic.
In the foreground, a wooden cylinder containing paint brushes reveals her medium of choice. A plate with persimmons, consumed during the harvest festival Chuseok to celebrate good fortune, brims with potential while the rest of the painting pulsates with action.

Greene situates her friend in a fantasy world that echoes Jeon’s artwork and their mutual interest in the traditional Korean fabric quilting technique of pojagi. Two rabbits, representing Jeon’s Chinese zodiac, appear to be concocting a potion. Flowers sprout as kaleidoscopic patterns envelop her. The reference to pojagi, the visible paint drips in the background painting, and the hands of the sitter— left unfinished—invoke the role of tradition, process, and exploration in artmaking.

Kira Nam Greene (born 1964, Seoul, South Korea) Currently resides in Brooklyn, New York
Oil, gouache, colored pencil, and acrylic ink on canvas, 2019
Courtesy of Contemporary Art Matters