Far Reaching Fragrance

- Patsy Surh O'Connell

Arranged Marriage - The masks represent Surh O’Connell’s parents, who had an arranged marriage. The mask on the left side represents her mother, who had a traditional Korean upbringing, and the mask on the right represents her father, who had a Western education. The symbols at the top of the mask represent long life; her parents had almost 60 years of marriage.

Mandarin Duck #1, #2 - Because ducks mate for life, the duck symbolizes faithfulness in Korean culture. The one flower represents Surh O’Connell, and the three flowers represent her three children.

Hot Stuff - “When I saw the red pepper, which was not available in Korea when I was growing up, I was fascinated by the richness of the food.” – Surh O’Connell.

My Journey - The three ducks represent O’Connell’s journey. The first duck represents her birth in China. The second duck represents her early life in Korea; O’Connell noted that a duck with its beak tied shut is traditionally given at a Korean wedding to symbolize that wives should not talk back to their husbands. The last duck represents a mallard that her husband got from Korea’s Jeju Island. “I used it as an open-mouth mallard female to show that I’m in America and I’m able to speak freely and say what I want to say, with women’s liberation and equality and the right of your freedom and responsibilities and value.” – Surh O’Connell.

Long Life - Surh O’Connell drinks tea made from plants she grows at home. The painting connects tea-drinking to longevity

Tea Ceremony Photo - Taken at a museum where they were showcasing Korean culture. Surh O’Connell explained that the Korean tea ceremony is not as formal as Japanese or Chinese tea ceremony; participants can talk during the ceremony, for instance. The tea pot represents a father figure, and the tea ceremony respects that symbolism by placing its lid on a small pedestal and not directly on the tabletop.

Dreaming - Surh O’Connell’s mother loved peonies, and after she died Surh O’Connell decided to honor her by completing 100 paintings of peonies. To date she has painted about 70. In this case, she picked the peony from her garden, brought it into the house, and thought of her mother and the Korean poem “Missing You” while painting it.

What’s Inside I - “In Korea we have a saying, ‘When you don’t know the person, it’s like licking the surface of a watermelon.’ That means you don’t know what’s inside. That prompted me to paint some fruit and vegetables. It has beautiful patterns inside, especially the beets.” – Surh O’Connell.

What’s Inside II - “In Korea we have a saying, ‘When you don’t know the person, it’s like licking the surface of a watermelon.’ That means you don’t know what’s inside. That prompted me to paint some fruit and vegetables. It has beautiful patterns inside, especially the beets.” – Surh O’Connell.

What’s Inside III - “In Korea we have a saying, ‘When you don’t know the person, it’s like licking the surface of a watermelon.’ That means you don’t know what’s inside. That prompted me to paint some fruit and vegetables. It has beautiful patterns inside, especially the beets.” – Surh O’Connell.

You are my Sunshine - Surh O’Connell donated this painting to Gunsan Unversity located in Tacoma’s Sister City, Gunsan, South Korea. Surh O’Connell says the sunflower is a favorite flower of many Koreans. The painting was done on clay board, which takes the watercolor paint differently than watercolor paper.

A Wild Thing - This painting is a Chinese-style composition done on rice paper. “Most Chinese artists don’t crop the paper after they paint; they use the given size and compose the paintings,” said Surh O’Connell.

Morning Visitors - In this painting, Surh O’Connell added soap water to dissipate the ink and capture the look of wisteria flowers.

Generations - Surh O’Connell says that the idea of representing ancestors as circles comes from Japanese Zen Buddhism. “Behind us we have all these ancestors who influence us.”

Gongbi – Chinese painting style - The Gongbi painting method arose about 3,000 years ago in China as a pastime for people awaiting a royal audience at the palace. Surh O’Connell visited China in 2010 and spent six weeks learning the style. “The ink is applied very thinly to build up the intensity of the color,” said Surh O’Connell. She added that although the process takes a long time, it prevents the running that would arise if a painting with thicker layers was mounted onto another paper.

Spring in Seattle - Surh O’Connell used ink to get the background texture. Then she added salt to the texture. The painting shows that in May, when most of the peonies bloom, once in a while we get rain that ruins the flower.

World Within I - Surh O’Connell did ten of the “World Within” paintings, with the round circles representing the Earth. Her fascination with hummingbirds arises from her first encounter with them, when she was living in California and mistook the sound of a hummingbird’s wings for bees.

World Within II - Surh O’Connell did ten of the “World Within” paintings, with the round circles representing the Earth. Her fascination with hummingbirds arises from her first encounter with them, when she was living in California and mistook the sound of a hummingbird’s wings for bees.

World Within III - Surh O’Connell did ten of the “World Within” paintings, with the round circles representing the Earth. Her fascination with hummingbirds arises from her first encounter with them, when she was living in California and mistook the sound of a hummingbird’s wings for bees.

Nature As Was I - This painting was done in ink, then washed with a strong tea. Surh O’Connell notes that crows have a similar value system to humans; they talk to each other, take care of the chicks, and live together in groups that may contain three generations. “They are survivors. As a refugee from China to Korea, survived the Korean War, then came to America and survived – I wanted to use the crow as a metaphor of myself.”

Life and Death in the Forest - The driftwood’s texture was achieved by crinkling the rice paper on which this piece is painted. The feather represents life in an otherwise dead scene.

The Girl Who Is Obsessed with Peonies - “I didn’t really put my face into that painting, but I certainly am obsessed with doing the peony painting in order to achieve what I promised myself – 100 paintings of peonies.” – Surh O’Connell.

Life’s Continuing Struggle - Surh O’Connell created this painting after a visit to the Ballard Locks, to honor the salmon who become battered in their struggle to survive and bring a new generation of salmon into the world.

Your Life was a Joy - Created on Himalayan handmade paper, this painting depicts a geometric background representing Surh O’Connell’s mother’s life. The bird represents the mother, who visited O’Connell’s dreams as a bird.

We are All In Together - This painting depicts ducks huddled together for warmth in cold weather who are better able to survive working together.

Some Seize the Moment and Some Not - The effects in this painting are achieved by the use of ink drops and soap drops. It was inspired by iridescent beetles Surh O’Connell’s brother-in-law in Wisconson sent her. “There are birds and humans who see the opportunity, and some who don’t seize it.”

Reunification - This painting represents Surh O’Connell’s hope for the reunification of North and South Korea. The roof is a traditional Korean tile roof. The pigeon with its head up is South Korea; the pigeon with its head down is North Korea. The red background represents the region’s history of bloody conflict.

Immigrant –The New Arrival - Surh O’Connell says that when she left South Korea in 1963, her father advised her to learn the cultures of her new country. The vessel represents and old Chinese vessel, and the old peonies represents immigrants who have been here a long time. Surh O’Connell represents herself as a fresh peony.

Roots I – Uprooted - The “Roots” paintings are done in the Gongbi style, which uses many thin layers to build up intensity of color. The crow represents Surh O’Connell, uprooted to immigrate to another country.

Gig Harbor Persimmon - This painting shows the persimmon tree in Surh O’Connell’s Gig Harbor garden, which also contains other Asian fruit trees. An expert warned her not to expect the tree to thrive in Gig Harbor, but a few years later it started bearing fruit.

Four Seasons-Spring - Gallery Coordinator Dr. Jennifer Olson notes that although the images all appear to be the same size in the ditigal display, the “Four Seasons” images were created on a much larger scale, which is evident when they’re displayed in a gallery.

Four Seasons –Summer - This autobiographical painting shows a duck with a mate and full seed pods, indicating that Surh O’Connell’s husband and children are still with her.

Four Seasons-Winter - This autobiographical painting shows the sequence of a duck’s life. The empty seed pods represent the fact that Surh O’Connell’s children have grown and moved out.

Past, Present, Future-In the Moment - This painting depicts a type of peony Surh O’Connell grows, in which the stamens are more significant than the pedals.

Asia Pacific Cultural Center - “In 1995 I brought my parents to America for their last journey. In 1996 my father passed away. As anybody going through the situation of losing the parents, I also was in the dark area of what am I living for, what is my being.” – Surh O’Connell. She dealt with this situation by calling a meeting with six different first, second and third-generation Asian Pacific community leaders. They discussed their status as immigrants, and the importance of culture to immigrant populations. Then they incorporated the Asia Pacific Cultural Center as a non-profit organization. “That was 25 years ago. We represent 47 Asian-Pacific communities here and abroad.” – Surh O’Connell.

All Are One - This painting hangs in Washington State Speaker of the House and former TCC Trustee Laurie Jinkin’s office. The peonies represent China, the cherry blossoms represent Japan, and the white orchid represents Korea. Bamboo grows in all 47 countries and we can all live together respecting each other.