For a lifetime, bow to the plum blossom (Gaehwa 02), 2026
Oil on canvas194 x 97 cm
76 1/2 x 38 1/4 inches
In Gaehwa 02, a portion of a classical Hanmun poetic couplet by the Joseon literati painter and political regent Heungseon Daewongun is inscribed onto the tattooed body of a Japanese laborer from the Meiji era. The series also includes portraits of Joseon's final rulers, whose faces appear transcribed with irezumi. Discernible on the surface of these photographic prints are multiple overlapping strata of printed image and painted pigment, layered with the depictions of the human body and imagery engraved upon flesh.
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