Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Making mould!!

It's been ages since I made any moulds. So, when the feeling strikes I decided to cast a face in plaster bandages. I remember being inspired by George Segal, the sculptor who makes his work entirely in this particular material. It's amazing how he captures the essence of body gestures and illustrates the mood with these "white" body sculptures in public spaces. When I see images of his sculptures, I feel a sense of eeriness as if time has stopped to preserve a certain moment. 

When the mould dries properly, I will make a positive plaster mould so I can fix some details and manipulate the cast. It should be tremendous fun!!

Monday, December 19, 2011

I heart makeup!

I was sorting through my makeup supplies over the weekend, and decided to paint my face! As one might notice, I like to mix beauty makeup with little drawings on the face to make things more interesting. I used to dread doing only beauty makeup because most ladies want the same thing. Makeup is inspiring and it's another form of art. It should be  more than just smoky eyes and pale lipgloss!! I appreciate how it alters a person's face dramatically with colors and depth. Of course, the sparkles are just fabulous, too!



Also, from my research, I've came across an artist named Louise Bourgeois. She does casting of hand gestures. "There's nothing so fraught with significance as the human hands" - this quote gave me some inspirations to do some casting of myself. Stay tune for upcoming sculptures~!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The benefit of having mild ADD

The benefit of having a mild case of ADD is that I get to wonder about different things. So far, I've been playing with colors - mixing them directly and heavily onto canvas, and watching them mingle and transform. I use a spatula and direct the colors in swift and broad strokes, leaving behind traces of body movement. This method is inspired, obviously, by Jackson Pollock. Most people laugh when them view Pollock's work - seeing them as paintings children can easily mimic. But, I think the way Pollock "splashed" paint is quite poetic; I see paint as a continuation of his actions, and the canvas a record of that. Pollock saw a completely different universe on his canvases, and he tried to communicate that in his own language. I think that's what all artists try to accomplish in their work no matter what medium or style.

At first, I use smaller strokes to mix the colors - closer to pointillism/impressionism. As I continue the practice, I became bolder with the experiment and painted in larger stroke and movement. The feeling I get when doing this is really quite liberating. There's no confinement or restriction - apart from the edges of one's canvas.

Now, I am interested in combining this technique with theatrical characters. I will start on character studies with some sketches; I want to emphasize on magnifying the "character", rather than drawing a realistic portrait. I think this will bring me closer to the show I want and it will be so much fun!!!  

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Btw, Marc Chagall rocks!

Just viewed Chagall's work recently at the AGO. I loved the symbolic work and his genious intuition in working vibrant colors on canvas. He created such story-telling pannels with his paintings, and portrayed the mood perfectly. Most of all, I appreciated that he was communicating real human feelings. Also, loved his characters!!! 

"I and the Village"

Back again on Blogger!

It's the end of 2011 and I'm back on Blogger again! After two years of teaching visual arts plus some time to reflect, I've decided to devote my time to experiment and hopefully, discover my own artistic style. Some of the kids I taught really inspired me with their originality, creativity and a sense of innocence. It was refreshing to step away from the increasingly philosophical fine art world, and look at art through children's eyes. Picasso is right in saying that we should learn art from kids.

I am aiming for a solo show next year. In it, I want to portrait this circus-like world of ours with theatrical characters and settings. From now on, this blog will serve as a record of all the different mediums and styles I will try on my journey.