First Year at Elam... (art school)
This year, everything was about experimenting with ideas, techniques and materials. It was my very first time to look at Materialism, Sculpture, and any kind of subjects I wanted to discuss.
Cup Cakes
Pins, Needles, thread, paper, wax and graphite!
are the only materials we could use for this project, I melted wax in tin cup cake containers along with pins, needles, thread and graphite for decorations. I then photographed them with spot light and a black background which made these wax cupcakes look sexy and delightful.
July '05
Kitsch Landscapes
The nice and pretty works always had the most attention, and the photo-like paintings were considered as good art. I started asking myself why do we prefer picture perfect landscape scenes? Are we just too afraid to understand abstraction and modern art? When I look at my past paintings I could not see myself but the imagery of others saying that it is good, it’s beautiful or it’s perfect. But what is perfection? What makes a photo-like painting perfect? We are in a modern world where modernism had already established it’s place but still the pictorial aspect creeps into our judgment in art.
I chose landscape as my starting point because it was a subject that almost everyone loves. In search for the perfect landscape I have looked at familiar places, such as Mission Bay, Phia West Coast… etc. and also postcards of landscapes. I even went to a farm to study the form of how the land is formed and to construct “the perfect landscape.” The somewhat like imaginary landscape paintings I had done was what most people prefer. I still did not understand so I challenged the paintings, taking parts out using colours and compositions in which to make them look uneasy and disturbing. Isn’t this how others see modern art, disturbing and hard to understand? Considering the taste in good art I found the idea of Kitsch art very strange because in postcards and travel brochures landscapes are presented in kitsch style, but when art is on kitsch it is considered as “bad art.”
I was surprised to see the public’s reaction towards cotemporary paintings at the Auckland Art Fair 2005; many of the abstracted paintings were ignored. The feeling was uneasy, it was as though the abstracted works were calling for attention, and I made sure I give it to them. But it was not enough the look-a-like landscapes painting were being rewarded by bright red sold stickers. I was very annoyed by this sight, so I continued my interest in kitsch art especially the colour combinations.
The Two Dollar Shop was the best place to find kitsch, the colours are very bright and disgusting, but work well together particularly when they are crowded. Still using landscape motifs taken from pervious concept drawings canvas. But I found they work better on paper than on canvas, so I made an attempt to paint on wallpaper, this adds to the idea of kitsch and it being low art, which challenges the taste of perfection. I had managed to construct a painting that could form into any size and where the motifs were hand painted carefully, some in details. At times I felt I had run out of colours because I had to restrict my self to only use bright kitsch colours. I also let the motifs itself to work together as a whole in a crowd; this way the painting speaks for itself to become its version of the perfect painting.
The landscape motifs in my final presentation stood for people’s perfection in pictorial art, and the colours are to emphasize the kitsch world that we live in. There are moments where I felt strong dislikes towards the piece and I wanted others to feel the same; to “love and late,” but without judgments on what is perfection.
October '05
Habits
We were given an interesting project on Habit, where we can look at any habit from any angle. Instead of looking at a specific habit, I made a tape saying phases such as "It's my habit", "This is my Habit"... etc. over and over again. Until the phases seems like a habit itself and the term habit is no longer meaningful and without its significance, which is what I think a habit in any person's life would eventually become.
July '05
Painting Experiment
This is a painting piece painted on a wall, with washed out paint and Plastic wraps, yes, the ones we use for our microwave. First I wrap the wall with the plastic wrap in rows. Second, I dribbled down washed out paints from the top so the paint sinks in and behind the plastic, which leaves an interesting print on the wall when it dries.
July '05
Extra art outside Elam.
I was asked to paint the set for a community show of a forest background. Accompanied by my friend Mandy, we painted the set which i designed in one weekend. It was hard work but we had a fun and a great experience.
May '05
