Honorable Mention
Scent of Texas 05032023P
DESCRIPTION
Broqpa is the name of a small village in Nepal. Ziesook first learned of it from a TV documentary, The Last Empire. Ziesook was moved by what she learned about a small village located at the end of the Silk Road in Nepal named Broq-pa. In Broq-pa, the symbolic meaning of flowers is very special. In the Nepalese culture, flowers symbolize love, happiness, and appreciation for God. Broq-pa’s women are committed to growing flowers in their garden and decorate their hair with flowers every day. Ziesook wanted to incorporate this traditional symbolism from Broq-pa into her work and into her own personal life. She believes that this ephemeral medium, the flower, can carry a piece of happiness into people’s lives. Ziesook’s desire to share the spirit of Broq-pa with people through her artwork was the inspiration for her series, Scent of Broq-pa. The first work in the Broq-pa project began in 2016 with floral portraits of her twin daughters. Ziesook is continuing the series by exploring floral portraits of seniors, single mothers, people from multicultural backgrounds, and different age groups. After moving to Texas, one of the first things I did was go out and collect some of the state's wildflowers. I was drawn to the sea holly, lace flower, bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush, and pink evening primrose in particular. I also gathered specimens of the evening primrose, Indian blanket, campanula, cornflower, gayfeather, texas thistle, perovskia, leucophyllum, knautia arvensis, and cirsism horridulum michx. I collected photos and have been editing a photo essay book about 'the color of Texas'. Also have been making a documentary with nature movie clips. This project is a great way to celebrate the beauty of Texas and raise awareness about the importance of preserving its natural treasures. AUTHOR
She portrays her surroundings and daily life in a bold, unaffected video language. Her pieces include the video diary of her family using time-flowing methods, a documentary film has taken in various world travel sites depicting space and time, and 10 Years Self-Portrait using time compression techniques. She has exhibited in Korea, Australia, Iceland, Taiwan, Hungary, Japan, France, the Netherlands, the UK, and the United States. Since 2016, she has been working on the "Scent of Broq-pa" project, which expresses happiness through the coexistence of humans and nature, with people from various walks of life and has been exhibiting it in Korea, Hong Kong, the UK, and the United States.
Her work prefers continuous series in which layers accumulate over a long period of time, examining time, space, nature, and life.
She earned a master’s degree in fine art and taught contemporary art and video art and techniques at universities and graduate schools from 2006 to 2014.
From 1999 to 2018, she participated in various studio activities including residency programs. She participated in a number of exhibitions and had 14 individual exhibitions in Korea and USA. She is currently working at her studio in Austin and is participating in exhibitions in several cities in Texas, South Carolina, California, and New York.
