HELENA

The freshness of a spring and early summer garden inspired this painting on a traditional Korean fan, hapjuksun, made of bamboo and hanji. Blossoming peonies with their lush petals, shy pink tones, and delicate texture evoke the lightness of featherweight cotton candy. To capture the airiness and softness of the flowers, I used a minimal color palette and a shimmery mica-based pigment, which gives the hanji a subtle sheen and dimension.

The final composition and color combination used in the painting were determined after two practice paintings, as shown above.