Towards a field of sleep: Brian Leo King

Brian Leo King served as a Private in The Royal Australian Regiment 1st Battalion (1RAR), from 23 Dec 1955 - 24 Mar 1956. Artist Lee Grant photographed this portrait in Canberra at the Korean Veterans Association of Australia reunion dinner in October 2018. She asked him about his view of the situation in Korea at that time:

“Great thing the way things are getting sorted out [on being asked about the unification of both Koreas]. It would be great if they could be fair dinkum about it”. - Brian King, 2018

Grant included this portrait in her series "Towards a field of Sleep", which is a poetic visual response to the experience and legacy of the Korean War for Australia. It is one of two series of photographs that comprise "Mnemosyne" by artist Lee Grant, responding the history and legacy of the Korean War shared between the Republic of Korea and Australia.

Grant was selected by the Australian War Memorial as the Australian artist for the inaugural artist residency exchange project with the Republic of Korea. (Taedong Kim was the Korean artist, he spent a month based at the Australian War Memorial.) Grant travelled to Korea to research the history and legacy of the conflict. She visited historic sites and met with current and former service personnel and civilians who lived through the war. She then undertook research at the Australian War Memorial and met with Australian veterans. "Mnemosyne" includes two series of photographs, "Towards a field of sleep" and "And the rivers still flow towards an open sea". Grant's own photographs are complemented with archival photograph's from the Memorial collection. Mnemosyne is the name of the ancient Green goddess of memory and remembrance. The title 'Towards a field of sleep' was inspired by the poem "Towards the field of sleep" by Korean poet Choi Jeongrye.