Friday, February 19, 2010

Ursula von Rydingsvard
















{ all images via ursulavonrydinsvard.net }

i've got sculpture on my mind lately.
i discovered Ursula von Rydingsvard a while ago while watching the PBS art:21.

while i normally don't gravitate toward abstract sculpture,
something about her work that moved me.
maybe the restrained expressiveness and emotions that seep out of the roughness
of the wood (= something inanimate, though once living - as trees)... or the heightened volume of those expressed voices henceforth because they were basically
a pile of 4x4s with raw edges of circular saw blade still unrefined,
which together made such organic, beautiful shapes.

there were something i found beautifully contradictory and paradoxical that eventually seems to add up and come around full circle in her sculptures - something (the 4x4's of wood) that seems so rigid, tough and unnatural (usually in construction context) yet that actually used to be/is still 100% organic matter, which is yet agian re-formed and re-shaped into something organic.
now i'm starting to have circular sentences.


................................

also, watching art:21 in general (or just reading about a lot of
artists i love and admire) makes me realize what a distracted person i am.
the focus of energy and ideas and the concentration of creativity really burst out
onto what these artists make. that's probably why most people i admire usually have some insatiable appetite for creating and the drive and passion for it that nears desperation & hunger - albeit unbalanced or unhealthy sometimes.
sometimes... 나도 미치고싶다!

new sketchbook

Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2
i've been sketching in sporadic consistency (if that makes sense) in my 2nd leuchtturm sketchbook.
the leuchtturms consist of thinner pages than moleskines,
which, for me, is better for sketching/drawing sans any paint.
there's something i like about the tactility and translucency...

unfortunately the second one i bought has some kind of coating
on the paper, so it doesn't absorb the ink like the old one. :/

if these seem redundant, that's because my thoughts have been overlapping lately.
pages from around jan 26th through feb 13th :

Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
Leuchtturm 2010 no. 2 sketches
all ballpoint pen & brush pen in leuchtturm sketchbook. ©2010.

more pages here, here, and here.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

2010 Adjustment

here's my new updated schedule of 2010.

please see below (or here under SHOWS) for the new updated schedule for 2010.

.........................

{ 2010 Schedule }
January :: Dark Pop 2. group show. LastRites Gallery. New York, NY
February :: New Moon. group show. MyPlasticHeart Gallery. New York, NY
April :: Vision. group show. Thinkspace Gallery. now Culver City, CA.
April :: Custom Jibibuts group show. Munky King, Los Angeles, CA
May :: Group Show. 111 Minna Gallery. San Francisco, CA
June :: 12x12. group show, curated by Thinkspace. London Miles Gallery. London, UK
July :: Crazy 4 Cult. Gallery 1988. Los Angeles, CA
August :: Prop 8 Awareness Benefit show.Thinkspace Gallery. Culver City, CA.
November :: 5th Anniversar group show. Thinkspace Gallery. Culver City, CA.
November :: Group Show. London Miles Gallery. London, UK

+ please contact respective galleries in advance for preview lists, info & purchase.

.........................

and i'm sorry to announce that the solo show i had planned in 2010,
unfortunately, has been cancelled due to the plans of the gallery.
hope you understand - i guess this happens!

in lieu of that, i'll be working hard on these group shows, as well as working on
developing more works that are true to my heart.
this year is going to be a very experimental one, an exorsistic one, if that's even a word.
i'm so excited!

hopefully this statement will stay safe : my next solo will be in march 2011
in london, so please stay tuned!

+ Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this. (here or through my email - mail @ my website).
i'll answer the best i can.
(edit : wow, thanks so much for all the emails and messages. thank you!!)

happy lunar (chinese) new year & valentine's day!
♥♥♥♥

(more sketchbook pages to coming soon!)

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Snaky Snaky...

Ouroboros. 7"x11.5". Ink, Acrylic & Pastel on Paper. © 2010.
Ouroboros. 7"x11.5". Ink, Acrylic & Pastel on Paper. ©2010.

above is a piece i have in the group show opening tomorrow!!


New Moon : Interpretations of the Chinese Zodiac 2010
Opening Reception: Friday Feb 5th 2010 6 - 9pm

Exhibition runs through Mar 6th 2010

for press inquiries please contact info@myplasticheart.com

to sign up for our preview list contact previewlist@myplasticheart.com

each artist chose a chinese zodiac symbol, and did an interpretation of it.
i chose the snake ('41'53 '65 '77, '89' 01' so on).

you can read more about each artist's choice in this mini interview on their site.
please come by and say hello if you're in the area!

...............................

some behind-story of the piece...
i normally don't really explain my work, but somehow, this year,
something shifted within me, and i kind of want to create with a little more lucidity & direction in mind...
whether i or my work will across as lucid, i'm not quite sure, we'll see.

i watched the film Thirst while drawing in my sketchbook, which got me thinking
about the concepts of the whole creation myth, adam & eve, existence of being neither here nor there, dark vs light, etc...
which lead me to re-read the 2nd chapter in joseph cambell(my hero)'s
The Power of Myth, (strongly recommended) and ouroboros came to mind,
something i've always been fascinated with the concept of.
so much great symbolism contained within!!

either way, i had a great fun with this small piece,
because i did in the kind of way i want my work to grow toward.
a lot more raw looseness, and some tight details, & a little less prettiness.
just like the way the world seems to me.

anyway, enough rambles from me - if you find yourself tomorrow evening
in the lower east side in NYC, please drop by and say hello!

...............................

+ thanks so much for all the kind & amazing responses to my sketchbook pages!
i will post them more often this year - i'm also thinking of selling some sketches
some day when i have a studio sale on my shop site...
prints are coming soon too!

+ also, i have a facebook page now.
a little while ago i realized someone else had created it,
and just recently got the admin rights from them,
so i can post on it & have at least some kind of control over how my work is represented... (though it's just a facebook page.)
please join the page or you can probably read the same stuff here & on my twitter.