Nooksack artist Louie Gong has unveiled two murals that will be installed in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. They honor Bruce Lee.
Gong packed the two paintings with lots of symbolism. He said he tried new things, too, including merging contemporary Coast Salish-style with realism.
"And also, Coast Salish art is typically very controlled," Gong said. "And I've tried to embrace being fast and loose — It's in connection to Bruce Lee's philosophies."
The pieces are designed to spark engagement, conversation and promote connections with Lee's legacy in the CID. In each there is a dragon with Coast Salish characteristics.
Lee's signature hairstyle is the focal point for the painting titled The Journey Begins Here. In the silhouette of his hair is a subtle lattice-pattern map of the CID. The mural will be installed outside one of Lee's former studios.
A dragon is featured prominently in the other painting titled One With Water. Spilling out from its hair includes images of Lee’s hand punching and his leg kicking. There's a bird on each side of the dragon's face and their trajectories lead to the Space Needle, where Lee and his wife had their first date. The mural will be installed a few feet away from Lee's favorite Seattle restaurant, Tai Tung, which is also featured in the painting.
When doing research for the project, Gong said he found Lee's physicality and expertise in martial arts were well represented. He said he connected with Lee in a different way.
"I really wanted to lean into how valuable Bruce Lee's personal philosophies are for personal development," he said.
Gong, who is the founder of the Seattle-based Indigenous art and lifestyle brand, Eighth Generation, said his favorite parts of the murals happened by mistake. The dragon's whisker in the painting The Journey Begins Here, for example, is long and red.
"It looks like it could go on forever," he said. " And it had to be that so I could cover up some areas that I messed up on."
Gong said through research he found that a dragon's whiskers represent longevity in Chinese culture.
"And so, to me, it was probably meant to be this way, and what it does is emphasize the longevity of Bruce Lee's impact on culture," he said.
Neither paintings include Lee's face. His daughter, Shannon Lee, said that is different from previous depictions of him.
"It's really the essence of him that's the most powerful part of him," she said at an unveiling ceremony at the Wing Luke Museum. "And we get that through looking at imagery of him, but when you can get that as a feeling beyond just looking at a picture of him, to me, that's a huge success."
She said especially likes how Gong incorporated symbols of her father's love into the pieces.
"One of the things that I say often about my father is that his legacy is actually all about love because he moved through life from the heart," Lee said. "And everything that he did, he did from the heart — through his passion, through his joy, through his intensity, through his feeling. He said, 'Don't think. Feel.' So, to me, these both capture a feeling, and that says it all."
The murals will be 10 feet by 10 feet. You'll be able to see them at the Rex Apartments and the New Central Building on Maynard Avenue the week of Nov. 25.
Gong said he hopes people can connect over the art about Lee and the Chinatown-International District.
"I think for folks who are local to the International District — that these pieces will bring a fresh and vibrant energy that they'll appreciate because they compliment the representations of the International District and Bruce Lee that already exist here in the neighborhood," he said.
