He Has Writer’s Block - self-portrait inspired by 19th-century printmaker Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s “Kibi Daijin Seated at a Chinese Table.”
Buddha and Budai are Bodhi Buddies - portrait of Reclining Buddha and Laughing Buddha in La Pietà (Lamentation of Christ) pose
Chan Fam Munjado and the Ten (12) Symbols of Longevity ( 陳家 문자도 / 십장생도 )
Our surname (陳) is shared among an estimated 100 million folks in southern China, southeast Asia, and the overseas diaspora. Munjado 문자도 is a Joseon (Korean) folk adaptation of Ming (Chinese) calligraphy (which was an absolute gauntlet of nightmares for this left-handed American). The ten (12) symbols of longevity 십장생도 are (spoiler alert): Pine tree 소나무, Sun 해, Crane 학, Water 물, Mountains 산, Clouds 구름, Deer 사슴, Turtle 거북, Bamboo 대나무, Stone 돌, Mushroom of Eternal Youth 영지, and the Peaches of Immortality 仙桃.
El Tamborilero / The Little Drummer Boy
The earliest known Asian-American settlement in the continental United States is Bayou Saint Malo, Louisiana (1763-1915) founded by deserting sailors and fugitive slaves from Manila, who were uniquely suited to thrive in the inhospitable and remote marshlands using indigenous shrimp fishing techniques and stilt houses from the Philippines. For 250 years (1565-1815) Spanish galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean trading luxury goods and forcibly recruiting and converting colonial subjects from Las Islas Filipinas and the Américas through the ports of Manila and Acapulco under the Viceroyalty of New Spain in México Tenochtitlán.
Our Umma Ungnyeo / 우리 엄마 웅녀
A tiger and a bear wanted to become human, so the divine king Hwanung told them to wait in a cave out of the sunlight for 100 days and gave them a bundle of mugwort and a braid of garlic bulbs to eat. Tired and hungry, the tiger left the cave after 20 days. But the bear was steadfast and Hwanung granted her humanity the very next day. She became Ungnyeo, mother of Dangun, the first king of Gojoseon.
A Jang-ot for Ji-yoo
This Joseon overcoat (장옷 / 長衣) is worn over the head in public to cover the face from prying eyes or inclement weather. It may also be worn on the shoulders but its sleeves should never have arms in them.
Don’t Cry, Mrs. Chan / 陈太别哭
“That era has passed. Nothing that belonged to it exists any more.” Portrait of Maggie Cheung / 張曼玉 from the Wong Kar-wai film 花樣年華 / In the Mood for Love.
Ha Ha Hee Hee Hahoetal / 하하 히히 하회탈
these 1,000 year old masks of Hahoe Village are worn in folk ceremonies to exorcize demons and mock the ruling class of Korea - its nobles (yangban), scholars (seonbi), and priests (chung). Each mask is built from a gourd base and mulberry bark papier-mâché with unique asymmetrical features that vary expressions by angle to the viewer and position of the actors. 3 of 12 masks have been lost from memory (oops colonialism) - the old man (ttoktari), the civil servant (pyolch'ae), and the bachelor (ch'ongkak).
Song of the Haenyeo ( Ieodosana / 이어도사나 / “Is he in Ieodo?” )
The remote island of Ieodo is revered as a resting place for the souls of the drowned. From 1592 to 1953, most of the men on Jeju Island were lost at sea or died abroad, taken away on warships or deep-sea fishing vessels never to return. In their absence, generations of free-diving mollusk-hunting 해녀 “sea women” became Jeju’s main source of food and income. Unsurprisingly, contemporary Jeju families and folk traditions are more matriarchal, matrilineal, and communal than other regions in Korea.
