tangents

i'm guilty of so many detours this semester. supposedly that's what the first year is for- hairbrain ideas that may or (most likely) may not work. i got straight up bored with collaging different elements (representational/ abstract, symbolic/ arbitrary, personal/ universal, funny/ pretty/ ugly) in my hodgepodgey watercolors that i wanted to try to make one iconic image that qualified for all of those things. and i was done done done with heads during this period. so i made these fluid acrylic paintings on 5ft yupo; they're solitary fleshy pods, knubs, grafts, etc. the response i got was mixed. one dude said the claims of my work being whimsical and illustrative must have gotten under my skin because i went from fantasy to cold hard boring facts. like him, most people just yearned for the days of my watercolors, but there were few supporters. now i'm hoping to reconcile my tangents because it's high time i get down to bizness.

school's out for summa

it has come to my attention that i am the world's laziest blogger. not no more. i am going to record all the gorey details of my summer in the studio. most of you have no idea what the heck i've been making this last semester to which i say i'm sorry. i'll try to make it up to you.

this weekend!

if you're in the area, come check it out.

teaser

i was going to add some photos of last semester's work, but alas, i hate most of them. so here is a little something i've been cooking up. not nearly done, but it's something. i took a break from faces and painted this with acrylic on a 5ft roll of yupo.

the latest

my second semester at cgu has started. i'm really hopeful that this semester will be better/ more challenging and yet more rewarding and i'm confident it will be twice as busy. i decided to double-up with classes now so my last semester can be completely dedicated to finishing my show. i also decided to take on a second job; i'm a teaching assistant for sandeep mukherjee's undergrad intro to painting class down at pomona. we had our first official painting day yesterday. i loved it. it's really odd to be instructing others about technique and the elements of art. first, because they listen to me (mind blowing). and second, i myself still have insecurities and questions- that never goes away. the questions and dilemmas just get more complicated and tricky.

with that being said, i'm trying to work some stuff out. hence, no postings of pictures. i've made stuff. but you don't need to see. i will post some new work probably within the week. hold your horses.

just more dumb words

this week i have become an insomniac. it's not that fun. the first time it happened i got on to thinking over the semester's challenges (aka graduate school blackholes). all of them have been redonkulous. i guess i "experimented" as everyone suggested i do. i went through a materials crisis. watercolor on paper, then on panel, on plastic, on handmade paper, on three-dimensional surfaces, then photography, then oils on canvas, then acrylic, then fluid acrylic. so if you were thinking to yourself "what is she doing with her time?" that is my answer. i've struggled and struggled; and i haven't even begun my image/ content crises.

meanwhile i have had some opportunities to do paintings for people i love. i attempted one in acrylic. it was so-so. i actually hated it and then i haphazardly ruined it today. i brought out my watercolor supplies. within seconds i realized that watercolor (on plain old boring paper) is where i belong. all that to be at square one again? yep. i guess that's what grad school is all about. exhausting all your options so you know your direction more clearly. and now i do.

one negative aspect

since i started at cgu i have heard the cliche "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" at least twice a week. one time it hit an all-time high of three in one day!

i'm a traitor

this week, after several critiques, i woke up one morning and decided to give oils another go. why shouldn't i? for some reason, i had a loyalty issue. like i married into the watercolor mob and i was never allowed to look back. i have fought for my watercolor underdog and maybe to my detriment. so i bought some stretchers and today i gessoed my first canvas in almost three years. at first i felt like a cheating jerk. but then i realized that our little "falling out" was silly; i didn't have to choose. oils and i are getting reacquainted and in the meantime i still hang out with watercolors.

opposites distract

this week i've had meetings with a ton of people. we looked at some of the stuff i've been doing including "mustard" (pictured below). it's funny how polarized the response was. one lady (and a few friends) suggested i enhance my practice by making my own paper and incorporating three dimensional paper forms to better develop my ideas. and then a few days later someone said that i don't need to change my process. i just need to make things flatter. instead of making my own paper, i should go more industrial than organic in order to make my watercolors more contemporary. so this week i was told to go more three-dimesional and i was told to go less dimensional. welcome to grad school?

exhibit shots

here you go. unfortunately there are no images of last night. i didn't have grant take pictures of the opening (because that is totally bogus). but it was packed and really fun. whit and heidi came and got to meet some of my new school friends. and they got to see what all these peeps make.

the show was divided into two adjacent galleries. here's the entrance to the gallery my piece was in (i really lucked out with the placement):


here is my piece titled "mustard". it's 76" x 64"



now for some highlights: i seriously love this sculpture by a dude named william and was so thrilled that our pieces were placed next to one another. i also think this installation by cristina is beautiful. she also did a nice installation in the atrium.


this shot really doesn't get the greatness of the last piece. it was to the right of mine and i think it is the bomb. amy does these pink sculptural paintings from belly button images. also some other nice pieces that you can't really see. bummer.


this is nuttaphol's work. he could possibly be the coolest person in all of the claremont colleges. he is hella cool. and his work is also part of the reason why i go to school everyday.


in the other gallery there was a mix of stuff too. the underlying theme was figuration, something unique to our class. claremont is primarily an abstract painting school so all the other students and faculty were surprised by the change. jacob did the small piece and now he's working in textiles (in an awesome way). and the cellulite man creeps me out and makes me laugh big time.


yoshie did the video in the back. i have to tell you that it is the most nausiating and enjoyable thing to watch. she eats junk food non-stop for five minutes with a carnival scene and music playing behind her. barf. in a good way.


and lastly, my friend leia did this painting of a hollywood couple.


there are so many other note-worthy pieces ( i'm missing shots of delmy and laurence's pieces) but that gives you a lil taste for what went down. or up. or whatever.