[ Back of The Robe ]
[ Front of The Robe ]
75" x 52"
Fabric dyed, silk-screened
and
freehand
machine
embroidered calico robe
|
"The
Last Crown Prince"
By
Sung-Sook Hwang, 1992
I.
"Prince As Hostage"
Background Story
The
5th of December in 1907 was a very cold winter day. The
Cho-Sun
(Korea) Royal Prince was eleven years old. He was forced to
remove his royal robes and put on the uniform of the Japanese soldier.
When he changed into the uniform, there was a tense feeling
throughout the Palace. No one spoke. The Prince
said
farewell to the King, whose face was ghostly white. The
Prince's
mother didn't speak, but closed her eyes, buttoned her lips and cried
in her heart. She didn't know that it was the last time she
would
ever see him. The Prince did not want his tears show, so he
bowed
his head, only raising it to say farewell to his mother. His
mother saw the silent sadness in his eyes. His eyes were
begging
for him to be allowed to stay. But everyone was powerless
against
the Japanese soldiers. King Ko-Jong's favorite son, the
Prince,
held on to his mother's heart strings as he cried internally.
His
mother, was not the King's first wife, and so was not the Queen.
She was more like a concubine. Her only power came
through
bearing the King a son. Without her son, she was worthless.
She died of a broken heart four years later.
Description
The
first robe has a background of deep red symbolizing the discontent and
confusion in Korea at the time. The wisps of silver and black
on the
sleeves represent the awesome power of the Japanese who occupied Korea.
They killed and carried out many atrocities against the
Korean
people
but forbade their victims to speak about it, even to see or hear the
goings on. The Korean people, however, did see and hear the
bloodshed,
and their figures are scattered along the bottom of the robe in the
quiet black shadows. Covering most of the back of the robe is
the
large dragon which is a common Korean symbol for Kings and Princes.
It
is freehand machine embroidered in yellow to symbolize the potential
power of the Royal Prince at that time. The figure of the
dragon is
quilted, in a bas-relief, raising it above the background.
The
freehand machine embroidery that covers the dragon has been achieved
using both a straight stitch and a round stitch, and is layered thickly
so as to give the appearance that it is the color of the material.
The dragon's figure is contorted to show the anguish of the
reaching
over the top of the shoulder represents the clutching of the Prince
onto his mother's heart strings. The dragon's bloodshot eyes
are as
the Prince's would have been when the Japanese took him hostage.
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Lining
"Grandma"
The
lining for all of the robes narrates the personal story of my
grandmother. On a flat gray background, my grandmother's
photo
has been silk screened in black. Her portrait appears five
times
on each lining, each about 30 cm square. Scattered between
her
images is my poem of dedication to my grandmother, embroidered with
black thread in Korean script. The English translation of
this
poem is: |
Grandma
By Sung-Sook Hwang
I
Miss You Deeply
Yours
Was A Regrettable Life
Your
Suffering Only Ended
When
You Died Of A Broken Heart
You
Have Died
But
Your Spirit Shines
While
I Stitch I Embody Your Pain
Into
The Fibers
That
Symbolize Your Story
The
Memory Of Your Pain
Fuels
My Devotion.
I
Dedicate This Work To You.
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