Jing by Judy Kotick

As we traveled China in November 2006, I was attracted to the many masks that were displayed in museums. I found the painted face men, or Jing as they are called in the Peking Opera, ugly, scary, interesting and beautiful. My design of "Jing", wears a coat of loomed brocade from the Nanjing Brocade Institute. His facial paint color of black indicates honesty and straightforwardness and the color white denotes craftiness and treacherousness. My "Jing" must have a split personality. His headdress contains pearls purchased at the Beijing Pearl Market and blue silk and blue Japanese gold to replicate the brilliant teal blues of the Chinese headdresses made from kingfisher feathers. Since all the headdresses seemed so elaborate, "Jing" needed lots of gold, bronze, teal and pearls. My "Jing", the honest and straightforward one, will always remind me of our wonderful China trip.