Popper Etude
20.5 x 23 in

Oil on rice paper

20.5 x 23.25 in
______

In my 1998-2000 series of woodcut prints (each print is a unique singular print), I invented a visual correlative to the standard system of musical notation. I transformed notes into seven characters that incorporate elements from the calligraphy of my native Korea and the Roman alphabet. Arabic numbers indicate fingering information and arrows replace the symbols for flat and sharp. These drawings are an exact translation of the etudes by David Popper (1843-1913), a Viennese composer. His Opus 73 is a fundamental practice piece for serious cellists and the use of these etudes is extremely evocative for me since I have repeated these exercises since I was a child. 

The visual aesthetics for these work were very much inspired  by the Chinese woodblock inscriptions and illustrations of Chujun, the master engraver who worked during the Qinglong Reign (1736-1796). These books of rubbing and inscriptions were displayed at the Sam Fogg Gallery (from London) at the 1998 Asian Art Fair at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.

PRESS

  • Goodman, Jonathan, “Theresa Chong | Qiu Zhijie | Kim Sooja,” ART ASIA PACIFIC, issue#37, illus., 2003 (PDF)

  • Goodman, Jonathan, “Theresa Chong”, Art in America, Vol. 88, No. 4, pp. 156-157, April 2000 (PDF)

  • Brennan, Michael, “Painter’s Journal,” Artnet, October 1999, (PDF)