Joseon women drew flowers, butterflies, and garden plants on folding screens or embroidered them to create household items for weddings, bringing art into everyday life. In folk paintings commonly created by ordinary people, flowers and trees were by far the most frequent subjects. They either faithfully rendered plants commonly encountered in their surroundings—such as peonies, chrysanthemums, pomegranates, plum blossoms, lotus flowers, camellias, and bamboo—or sometimes imbued them with individuality to create unique forms.
When white hanji paper is applied to the exterior of a ji-jang (a paper storage chest) and hwajodo (flower paintings) are pasted inside, a beautiful inner garden unfolds, hidden within the modest exterior. The bird-and-flower painting borrowed for this pattern resembled a late Joseon period folding screen and was archived through the generous support of Yoon Yeol-su, the director of the Gahoe Museum. The composition and colors of the painting were already perfect, requiring no further modification.
Rather than making major alterations, the design was completed by skillfully arranging the original forms.
* Flower and Bird Painting
