Sneak Peek for the new Thinkspace Gallery.

this weekend is the grand opening (with 3 exhibits!) of Thinkspace Gallery
at their new location in Culver City.
Congratulations, guys!!

i will have a new painting in their group show, Vision, alongside
Anthony Pontius solo show and Hung & Gather group show.

here's a little peek of the piece :



i'm a bit nervous because it's kind of a different painting and this one started sort of
as an experiment (not really intended to show). i've been meaning for to juxtapose
figurative elements with abstract/expressionistic qualities.
i often end up over-refining (to my standards that is), and rue that i didn't leave them all rawer.
still got a lot of work to do to get where i want, but this is a start for me...
full piece with process pictures to come soon!

+ here's a new great interview with the co-owners of Thinkspace Gallery.

work in progress

a midway process photo for the jibibuts sculptures.
i kinda wish i'd left it at that stage, now looking back...

+ see finished products here & the show preview from more artists here!
(and yoskay's amazing candy troup!!)

Post for Jibibuts Customs sculpture

i've gotten some emails about missing out on the blog post
about the sculpture pieces, or it not showing up on blog feed...

i realized that maybe when i published it - then hid it realizing i had to
keep it under wraps til gallery preview - then reposted, some blog feeds
didn't recognize it as a new item to show as it was originally created the previous week.
that's just my theory - either way sorry about that!

the post about them with animated gifs right here!

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 :