belated sketchbook pages

i meant to post these a couple weeks ago, but my hands were dirty with clay.
while waiting for my 3d pieces to dry,
i did some sketches, paintings, and drawings in the 2d world as well.

i've reached to about half of my leuchtturm sketchbook #2 now,
and here are some of the pages from 2/16-3/29 :




























ballpoint pen, markers, brush pen & pastel in leuchtturm sketchbook. ©2010.

more pages here, here, here & here.

We Heart Wood @ Munky King

I'm Not There (L - white piece) & Like a Sad Song (R - black piece).

Opening April 8th, at Munky King Melrose in Los Angeles,
will be the custom figure (jibibuts) group show, We Heart Wood.
the figures are these blind assortment toys made from sustainable wood,
called Jibibuts, created by the artist duo Noferin.



artists were sent a set of the jibibut toys and were asked to customize them.
i made 2 pieces for the show, using clay.
as you can see, i played off some complementary shapes/ideas - one with a sculpted face, and the other a sculpted shell, etc.

+ please contact the gallery for info/purchase inquiries.




some detail shots below.
Like a Sad Song. 3"h x 2.5". Clay, Acrylic & Wood. ©2010. :







I'm Not There. 4"h x 2.5"w. Clay, Acrylic & Wood. ©2010 :





i had so much fun with these - my first real sculpted pieces.
i'm still clumsy at it, but i have some ideas i'd love to explore
with larger faces and shapes.
definitely will be doing some molding/casting/plastering...

of course, i had to make some 360º animated Gif of the pieces.
warning you that these may make you dizzy!


Like a Sad Song. 3"h x 2.5"w. Clay, Acrylic & Wood. ©2010.


I'm Not There. 4"h x 2.5"w. Clay, Acrylic & Wood. ©2010.

some in-progress shots here.

dirty faces

(click to view larger)

progress shot of an unfinished experiment based on a dream about painting a large face a while back.
black and white like the above but with more color layers of abstract patterns later on. i'll see how it goes...

although i've always been generally obsessed with faces and hands out of all body parts,
the obsession has gotten much more intensified and focused as of late.
something about the faces that try to hide and lie (or maybe not),
and the hands and the eyes that betray the face that's trying hard not to reveal
what's really beyond the surface.
hands, if not the eyes first, almost always seem to tell the truth.

i have some more ideas for sculpture than painting for this somehow,
so i'll be exploring that for a while.
my first real sculpted pieces will be updated soon!

clay faces

been doing some sculptural works as i'd been meaning to do for ages...
above are some of the results of my first figure/face-making with clay.
i've carved many a urethane foam blocks as an industrial design student,
but i'm a stranger to clay - but i'm totally head-over-heels in love with it,
so i'll be making more sculptural things, at least for myself, if not to show.

there's a whole different kind of "live-ness" when something in your mind
actualizes in a spatial setting. so exciting!

+ these are more specifically for an upcoming show, "We Heart Wood" at Munky King in LA,
entailing artist-customized jibibuts, made by the artist duo noferin.

more info on the show here.

other random things...


my friends and i rode our bikes up to Nyack, NY through NJ.
except that because of the fallen tree limbs (below) in the Palisades Interstate Park in Fort Lee, NJ, we could hardly make any miles, as we had to lunge under and over with our bikes on our shoulders about 40 times to make it through to 9W.
instead we opted for a big diner lunch in Tenafly, NJ,
and made our trip back to the city.



and a shot of our cats sleeping in their favorite ghetto bed :