Here are the latest works from my ongoing film still series of paintings. This work departed from the ideas of metaphorical imagery and just became portraits of pretty girls in bright clothing. The expressions of loss and confusion are still present in the figures but it would be a stretch to connect their situations with my own. I borrow imagery from Star Trek: the original series because I am drawn to the dress/hair styles and saturated colors. In the end, these works became paintings about painting.

There are some clumsy references to Wayne Thiebaud in these works. I was happy that people caught these stylistic choices before they asked me the inevitable “what’s that from?”. After looking at Thiebaud’s works more closely, I realized I don’t even come close to painting as well as he does. There is  more logic in his color choices and he’s fearless with intense color. I wouldn’t dare paint a huge glob of bright orange into woman’s face! Perhaps it’s better that I avoided full imitation. I’m glad that these paintings still look like mine.

To keep with the theme of customized formats in the film series, I built a few shaped canvases to accommodate the figure. I saw many eight-sided format portraits in the Splendors of Faith/ Scars of Conquest exhibit at the Oakland Museum last year. The octagon is also the standard format for all the paper, books and frames in the world of Battlestar Galactica. When watching BSG, I was intrigued by how such a funky shape could be the norm.

This hexagonal piece is the latest in the series. Did you know that Teri Garr was 20?!

This was quick practice painting I did after the first couple of portraits were completed. I also used it for cleaning my brushes.

I’m glad I made it to The Matter Within: New Contemporary Art of India exhibition at YBCA before it closed. Unlike previous museum visit posts, this was a contemporary show, so you will see more of my gut reactions to the pieces. There was no painting or drawing in the entire show which was a little disappointing. There was however a point of interest in the exhibit’s two-dimensional works as many of them were inspired by motion pictures. I found that many of the artists referenced the art form of film to aid their statements about identity.

Is Siddhartha a common name in India? I was thinking that the American equivalent would be something like Jesus Jones.

This was a series of photographs with a chair/neon light installation. La Jetée and 12 Monkeys rank pretty high on my favorite movie list, so this was exciting to see. I chose to draw the image that I could place with both films.

This Kind of Bird Flies Backward: Paintings by Joan Brown.

My time at the museum is over but I can still remember that this was a good day:

Amazing what you can dig up from your training manual.

Here are more notes from my museum drawing campaign. I had a lot of difficulty sketching within Masters of Venice exhibit at the de Young Museum. The crowds were larger and less patient with stationary observers like me. This added new feelings of urgency to drawings. I focused on the idea of “disegno” and tried not to dwell on details. I also gave up on correct spelling in my notes. My final sketch of a Titian painting became an abstraction, highlighting the artist’s use of shapes and values within the format.

My move to the permanent collection was a great relief from the special exhibit. I was able to spend more time with the sculptures in the near empty galleries.

The idea of sketching three-dimensional objects in museums was planted in my head after participating in Imin Yeh’s Space Bi project (Please visit http://www.spacebi.org/ for more info!). It makes sense, right? When you see an interesting object in a space where photography is not allowed, drawing becomes the best way to capture the experience.

I’m accustomed to making art in my own private studio so I was a bit apprehensive about drawing out in the open. I also never believed in the idea of “live painting” in front of an audience. So far, I’ve had very positive experiences drawing in galleries. I think that people respond more to the activity than the actual results. Yesterday at the CJM, a security guard patted me on the back and said “you’re doing it!”

I regret not having any sketches for the Richard Serra exhibit at SFMOMA. Sketching would have been appropriate since the exhibit showed the relationships between drawing and sculpture. I’ll have to sneak some oil sticks in next time. A second look will be easy with my free pass! It’s ironic that I’m using my Asian Art Museum badge to put myself to work in other museums.

“I do not fully understand… but the holy words will be obeyed, I swear it!” Join the Yang party!

I am currently creating a new body of work in the medium of collage. The project started when I was placed in charge of the shimmering screens drop-in art activity at the Asian Art Museum (November 2010). After working awhile with the provided collage materials, I noticed that my “shimmering screens” were taking the shape of dystopian cityscapes à la Blade Runner.
The Joseon dynasty palaces found in the AAM’s photography brochures became the perennial pieces to these works. I found a lot of interesting details in the Korean palace architecture that could be transformed to fit in the context of science fiction. From the beginning, the found images formed the path of the picture. There was never a plan or a preliminary sketch that guided these compositions. They simply grew.

More recent works in the series, present conflicts between nature and man-made structures. These landscapes are presented to be hostile and uninhabitable. I feel that the fractured skies help communicate this idea. If I had chosen to paint these landscapes, the construction of the ruined atmospheres would have been more of challenge.

When I completed the last collage entitled “Roots” above, I felt that the series would soon end. By the time the last collage was completed, there were only  five or six Korean photography catalogs left for use. Throughout the making of these works, I was mindful of errors and corrections. These issues are less severe when I’m painting a picture. The seemingly limited materials forced me to be more critical of where the pieces were to be pasted. Recently, my boss let me take an entire box of the catalogs from the AAM. Looks like the series will go on.

“The essence of film is to document human behavior . We dramatize it, therefore it becomes fiction. But really what we’re trying to create is a reality, so you’re documenting the behavior of the people in the situations that we’re dealing with.” – Edward James Olmos