Peasant Widow’s Fall
Artist: Iryn (Ae Ran Jeong)
Materials:(plaster masks, paint, wood, fabric, tree)
Statement:The source of this work was a novel from my childhood. Set during the Asian feudal times a peasant widow led a life of untold hardship. Her travails scorched my impressionable pre-teen imagination. The image of a widow in extreme agony needed releasing.
The work proved exhausting. Painting thirty-five masks, getting up at dawn for the installation, fighting the cold while hanging the masks and finally sheltering the doll from the harsh, biting wind pushed my endurance to the limits.
The telling moment was minutes before her unveiling I asked. “Are you able to stand here alone against the wind?” A voice clearly answered, “Yes, if you return to unbind me.” The work had taken on a spirit of its own.
Photographs: R.Montalbetti - 28/11/2003 - University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon)
