Curatorial Statement

Inspired by Steven Curtis Chapman’s contemporary song “Cinderella”, Striking Midnight attempts to capture the fleeting precious moments between a father and a daughter. Inspired by the dancing silhouettes in the video, the artist, Judy Han, uses a minimalist approach in depicting these moments, using colors and shapes as representative properties in the piece.

The color pink in the father’s tie and in the daughter’s accessories is used as a repetitive element across the three moments to represent the growth of their relationship. Even as time passes on and things must eventually come to an end, the bond between a father and daughter is constant and unwavering. Similarly, the father is always depicted in a black suit to represent however things may change, her father’s love will never change.

The color gradient in the background is used to represent the passage of time. In the beginning, the pastel blue is used as a childish color commonly found in adolescent playthings. It is also the color of the sky at the dawn of the day. Later on in the day as night falls, the violet is representative of the night sky and the maturity of the daughter into womanhood. In the very end, the black is the pitch dark of midnight. Here, the daughter in the brightest element while the father fades into the darkness. This is to show that not only must the father come to terms with his daughter’s independence but also that the daughter can no longer cling onto her father to grow.