(Gouache, 7” x 10”)
I decided to paint specifically a scene on 458, although the art could fit as an overarching piece, and elements from the rest of the story are incorporated in this:
“Honey, said Mom, You Won’t Let Me Get To Know You, Ronnie, Don’t You Love Me? Don’t You Like The Food I Make For You? Don’t You Miss Your Mother?
Ronnie shook her head.
Ronnie, I Am Going To Knock First—”
In my artistic interpretation of this story, I painted two figures, one of them red and the other blue. The blue one represents Ronnie, and the red Mom. Ronnie is looking down, appearing more solemn and sad. Mom is looking up at her, while reaching her hand out. This depicts Mom attempting to connect with Ronnie. When I was creating this, I didn’t have a picture in mind of what Ronnie nor Mom looked like, so their features are more vague. I decided to keep Mom even more vague and gave her loosely-defined features since that’s how I visualize her. Along with that, I also thought of the girls seeing her differently, as Mom was based on the girls’ perceptions on what a good parent should be and Mom would manifest differently for each of them.
The colors were intentionally chosen for this. I limited my palette to blue, red, black, and white, which are the same colors on the Korean flag. I chose blue for my depiction for Ronnie since blue is a versatile color. It can represent calmness, sadness, and aloofness, which I thought matched well with Ronnie’s character. Throughout the story, I thought of her as a calmer character, especially when compared with Mini and Caroline. Additionally, her distant and aloof nature is amplified with the presence of Mom. Her friends know little to nothing of her family and home life, and she refuses to let Mom in. I also left most of her face to be white, as white also has connotations with isolation. It is also commonly known to represent purity and innocence, which seems like it would contrast with Ronnie’s character but I will expand on that.
Mom is painted red. Red is a color which especially has lots of meanings to it (both positive and negative), but I view it as a strong and passionate color. It can mean love, danger, aggression, and even be a color that promotes persuasion. All of these combine to make my portrayal of Mom. To Mini and Caroline, the red would mostly be tied with love, while for Ronnie, it would be the other meanings.
When you look at the two figures interacting in my painting, the hand that reaches out to Ronnie’s face leaves behind trails of red. It is especially prevalent on the white parts of Ronnie’s face, showing a clearer effect of Mom on Ronnie—that she is tainting her. This also alludes to the ending of the story, where Ronnie and Mom merge together: “Who are we? We are Ronnie and someone standing behind her, with hands on my shoulders, a voice in her ear, and sometimes we are someone standing inside her, with feet in her shoes, moving her around” (459). This is further emphasized at the middle of the painting. Neither of Ronnie or Mom’s bodies are defined, but they rather fade into each other, creating a purple (which is what red and blue mix to). It shows the process of Ronnie and Mom becoming one.
Hi Khuyen! First this art is a perfect (for me) representation of the story. I love how each character is a different color, red and blue. Especially since red and blue can be considered opposites (like fire and water) yet, like you point our, they can mix and become purple. This really represents Ronnie and Mom throughout the story. First Ronnie tries to make them opposites but eventually they merge.
ReplyDelete-Kai
Khuyen!! Your painting is so beautiful!! I love the symbolism behind it and your thorough explanations of what you were trying to achieve with this painting make it even more enjoyable to look at. I thought your attention to detail specifically with how you added trails of red on Ronnie and the purple between the two of them accurately depicts the relationship with Ronnie and Mom during the story.
ReplyDeleteAmazing painting Khuyen! Why is this not in an art museum? I definitely agree that the power of mom over the characters is very important. I made her the main subject of my own cover design for this story. Visualizing the characters was also a really big challenge for me, I like how you used the emotions and actions of the characters to create a visual depiction of them and show an interaction between the red and blue.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a hauntingly beautiful painting and I think you should be very proud of it!! Mom trying to physically get inside Ronnie's head was the scariest moment of the story for me, and I think you have represented it perfectly. I love how Mom's eyes aren't as clearly defined as Ronnie's. Eyes are the gateway to expression, so giving Mom these loosely established features makes her so much more eerie and dangerous. I also love the color schemes, how Ronnie has just a few touches of Mom's bright red in her features, like Mom's influence is working its way in. This is AMAZING.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of only using two colors with the background being black. This gives off the idea of maybe a two-headed person even, which really comes together with the story well. I think the color choices specifically were well thought through too. The red makes Mom seem evil while the blue makes Ronnie appear innocent.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I really liked your choice of red to represent mom in this situation. It contains an element of rage, in addition to love, that contrasts with Ronnie's more passive nature. Mom is, of course, sort of a coping mechanism for Ronnie in a situation she feels is inescapable. That coping mechanism is rage that releases tension but will never be enough to completely extricate Ronnie. The rage manifests as both violence towards Ronnie's abuser and ruthless self-criticism, the latter of which only reinforces the cycle by keeping Ronnie blaming herself.
ReplyDeleteI loved you're painting! I think it represents history and what it means very well. I also agree with your choice of colors. While Ronnie is blue and white, which can mean calm, sadness and isolation, the mother is red, which can mean love but in this case has other meanings. I also agree with you when you say that Mom is different for each girl, since each one of them has different ideas of what a mother is. I think your interpretation of the story is very well developed and I think you've managed to show that through the painting. Good work!
ReplyDeleteKhuyen you are such a talented artist! I love your interpretation of this scene. I think the parts where Mom is possessing the girls is a little hard to visualize, but your artwork does a marvelous job of capturing the essence of it. I especially love your use of color to distinguish Mom - I think the bold red really fits her character as the sort of villain.
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