JEANNIE K. KIM // Dundas, Ontario, Canada
Since March 2020, I developed a deep appreciation for nature by taking care of scallions indoors: a representational reminder of resilience, and in turn, my mother. Scallions thrive with only water and sunlight, which gently reminded me to take care of myself during the first lockdown when I was living alone. As I refilled their water and washed their roots every morning, I had inevitably developed a motherly routine for the scallions. This led me to reflect on my own mother who performs countless acts of care for my family, one of them being cooking using scallions as garnish.
For this piece, I merged a pen drawing of my mother and an Asian watercolour painting of my scallions using Photoshop. I chose the blind contour method for both parts to convey the idea of taking the time to observe what is in front of us, simply as they are.