Experimentations of Fine Art working

Some of my Work - Experimental practices 

Rice has always been a huge part of my life, firstly because I'm Asian and Chinese people sort of eat rice like EVERY SINGLE MEAL. 

Second, whenever i do have a bowl of rice, my grandfather always tells me to finish off every grain, because each grain was made with hard labour and it would be wrong to waste it. 

Did you know that rice has been around for thousand and thousands of years!

This piece is titled "Patience" 

Each rice is placed vertically in horizontal rows. 

I expressed this concept to a few people and none of them said they would do it, how it takes to much time. I also calculated the grains in this piece, row by row;

23 Rows

2,862 grains of rice Total

You see how some grains are more transparent than others, that is because of the superglue. If i were to do this again and on a bigger scale (this one is A4), I would create a slightly visible image using superglue and its transparent property. 

Here i was simply testing with Ink. I was trying to express the heaviness of Ink. How it can drag you down when viewed in a particular way. 

Have you ever watched the Film Hugo?
There was a saying in which i am finding it hard to remember but it was something like this
" In a watch, there are no bad parts,  every piece is put in there for a purpose. Together they make the watch work. "
This made me think about people on earth. None of us a truly bad, and we all have a purpose. Like the pieces in a watch. No matter how small we are, there is a purpose for our existence.

I made these Illustrations and added in clock parts to them. 

Looks slightly robotic but it was fun to do. 

Outside Drawing - Watercolour 

I have always been fascinated but Fauvism. I guess it has a link into psychology which is another subject that i enjoy. In fauvist paintings, artist uses colours that express and emotion. So the sky may not necessarily be blue or grass may not be green.

It all depends on what the artist feels. Seeing emotion play out through their eyes.  

I wanted to get back into painting as i concentrated on installations and sculptures last year.
I went to Holland Park, which is a beautiful park to be in. (See one of my previous blogs about Holland Park)

I wasn't ready to go all out and set up an easel and chair and paint outside just yet, so i started off with watercolours on A4 paper.
It was fun to get back into drawing, in my opinion, the use of vibrant and non realistic colours create a more interesting visual for the viewers, its not boring or immediately direct. It makes you wonder and most importantly feel.

Artist that have inspired me are such like Andre Derain and Henri Matisse.

Transforming Buildings into Abstract Art

It's funny because these building deigns were probably created inspired by abstract art, such as works of De Stijl. Im using the same process but this time backwards. 

Keith Coventry did something similar where he used images of buildings seen from a birds eye view and transformed them into paintings. 

It may be simple and minimal but the concept is strong. 

Again in this, i used a range of colours, not the same to the ones in the original shot.

Edward Burtynsky's "Water" Exhibition, Absolutely Brilliant!!!

Edward Burtynsky's "Water"

This was one exhibition i desperately wanted to see. 

"When you develop a concept that you want to follow, you move away from the randomness of taking photographs to the idea of making photographs." 

- Edward Burtynsky 

What Burtynsky's work is showing is an investigation into our world's continuous compromised environment. He takes photographs mainly from an aerial perspective which take on a unique abstraction and painterly quality. 

These images focus not on the water itself but on the systems that humans have put in place in order to hardness this element. 

"Colorado River Delta #2, Near San Felipe, Baja, Mexico, 2011" 
Chromogenic Print
Edition 6
122 x 162 cm

Isn't this beautiful? Even more breath taking if it were to be seen for real. I looks like a tree with branches expanding from within. The water is creating all this! The colour of the water contrast with its white surroundings giving the element more focus.

"Glacial Runoff #1, Skeidararsandur, Iceland, 2012"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 3
152 x 203 cm

From a distance the image looks like a pattern, an image split into 3 different colours.
The details collide together making it rather difficult to determine what exactly the subject is at first.

" Greenhouses, Almira Peninsula, Spain, 2010"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 3
152 x 203 cm

The landscape here has been carved into dramatic patchwork patterns. Like we have control over this terrain. Human intervention has led to these rich lands being bled of their natural resources.
Colour combination really appeals to the audiences eye.

"Pivot Irrigation Suburb, South of Yuma, Arizona, USA, 2011"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 12
122 x 162 cm

It makes you think about the different ways we humans interact with our environment.
How we are trying to control them, the outcome of what they can produce for our benefits.

To me, it gives off a sense of alien. Maybe from movies...
The large circles look like radars to me, signals, marks on the ground created by large pieces of technology.

"Pivot irrigation #1, High Plains, Texas Panhandle, USA, 2011"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 12

152 x 203 cm

I really quite like the composition of this image. Its like a framed photograph inside a photograph. 

Rather abstract and really emphasis human activity on land

"Dryland Farming #27, Monegros, Spain #27, 2010" 
Chromogenic Print
Edition 9
99 x 132 cm

You know those long roads in a desert, and it's just endless, a slight comfort of freedom arises inside you.
This is even better. Not only do you see the road, you see what's ahead and around. A clearer more descriptive perspective

The sizes of these photos were a good fit to the space provided for them in the gallery. People could interact with them from different distances, far and close

Well lit, creating more focus on the photographs.

"Rice Terrace #2, Western Yunnan Province, China, 2012"
Chromogenic Print
Edition 6
122 x 162 cm 

This is majestically beautiful, the labour that has been done on the land has overall created a piece of art. Without knowing, this is a good example of Subconscious art.
It has a slight impressionism in it, how it concentrates on the light reflecting off the water surfaces, the orange and yellow colours in the middle give a nice contrast to its surrounding greens.

Inside the gallery, bottom floor, they have a nice little library where you can have a look at current artist and other artist work.
Edward Burtynsky's book is a whopping 75 pounds so if your pocket is low on cash, come and have a look as well as his original work.

The photographs were really well presented, there weren't any air bubbles beneath the image like you see in some photographs.
Details were very clear, minimal noise in the photographs.
A good size, would make a perfect addition to someones collection

In the gallery, consumers were continuously asking about sizes and prices. It is clear that this theme and Burtynsky's work has appealed to the majority of the population

"Xiaolangdi Dam #2, Yellow River, Henan Province, China, 2011"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 6

122 x 162 cm

"Xiaolangdi Dam #3, Yellow River, Henan Province, China, 2011"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 6

122 x 162 cm

Near the end of this show, i thought to myself that most of his images are a more artistic and beautifully shown google maps. Like the crop land ones. 

I am fascinated with his work. People stick with the perspectives that are comfortable with them, but Burtynsky goes beyond this. 

This is my Favourite!!!

"Stepwell #4, Sagar Kund Baori, Bundi, Rajasthan, India, 2010"

Chromogenic Print

Edition 3

152 x 203 cm

It has a story, a purpose, a previous life. 

At the bottom of this well, all you can see is trash thrown about. This is a beautifully constructed piece of architecture and its colouring on the walls tells us an age. 

Reminded me of M.C. Esher's work with the stair illusions. 

Overall this exhibition was one worth travelling to see. 

Now this is Art !!

Li Songsong's "We Have Betrayed the Revolution"

(Ground Floor Gallery, 6 Burlington Gardens)

This was an amazing visit, best I've seen in a while. 

First, isn't Songsong such a cool last name?

Li Songsong is a Chinese Artist. This is his first solo exhibition in London and I'm am sure it won't be his last. 

This exhibition provides a comprehensive view of Songsong's art and focuses on the essence of his technique and painting process.

These pieces of work portray historical figures and events that happened in China.

What i truly loved about his work was the process. the way he painted.  

Doesn't this look like a Bruce Lee modelling for Calvin Klein Underwear?

Songsong began with found images sourced from a media such as newspapers, magazines, or the internet. 
He reconstructs the image square by square building layers of paint. He uses oil paint in his paintings, he must have mastered his technique during his BFA in Oil Painting from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. 

People interacted with the pieces in 3 different ways. 

1. From a distance to see the overall image. 

2. Up close to see the smaller details.

3. Even closer to see the mix combinations created within the oil paints. 

The oil was so thick it made me slightly light headed, seeing the heavy usage of oil paint being built up on top of each other made me feel heavier....inside, like subconsciously. 

There was so much oil, i doubt that they were dry. I have tried using oil before and it was only a small piece but that took weeks of drying plus hours of using a hair dryer. 

Which begs me to a point, whilst viewing these pieces of art, the temptation to touch it is indescribable. Maybe it's just me but it was dragging me into it. 

In a painting, i look for the brushstrokes, i try to find the smallest amount of details made by a brush.

In this, the strokes were so wide, so big, there was hardly any marks made delicately but as you stand back, you can somehow see more than expected. It was like a deception of perspective. 

Li Songsong said 

" Everyone knows the story. The important thing is the way that you tell it. The way depends on your attitude, and attitude changes with time. As society changes, attitude changes accordingly."

Bright vibrant colours mixed together upon layers and layers. 

Unlimited amounts of texture. Nothing is ever the same in any part of the panting. 

This is called " Zhong Nan Hai"
Oil on Canvas

This is a bird's eye view of a location based in China. It looks really detailedly drawn, but as you get closer and closer, it doesn't seem as if the artist put in a vast amount to time in applying these details, or it may just be the process.

Its like playing with my mind.

I was so drawn to these pieces that i was considering buying one.....or all. 

Then i realised that requires money, money i know i don't have 

:(

I also like the fact that he adds in different colours, he adds in energising colours to liven up the situation painted. 

 So far, this was my most enjoyable visit to a gallery in London. The space was near perfect.

Ceilings high.

Pieces fitted on the walls well, wasn't surrounded by large empty spaces. 

Enough space for you to walk back and view from a distance.

Not all paintings were painted on canvas. 3 out of the 12 paintings were painted on Aluminium panels. This was an interesting contrast in material usage. 

The aluminium was a much thicker material, which stuck out of the painting much more. This created shadows which created images within the image painted on. 

Definitely a show or artist to see. I am sure he will continue surprising me with his work

Someday i will have one of his pieces up on my wall!

On till 9th November

Brand New Gallery Opening! Sackler gallery + Serpentine gallery

Serpentine Sackler Gallery

This is a new part of the Serpentine Gallery. Sackler Gallery is a new addition making it now two. 

The artist presenting his work in the brand new gallery is Adrian Villar Rojas. 

His work is truly amazing, not only the work shown here. If you haven't heard of him, have a look on the internet. You will be amazed!

 The elephant here is carrying on her back an external architecture facade of the Sackler gallery. She has been weighed down with extreme force but she is committing all of her energy to pushing against it. Its rather symbolises the animal.

What i enjoy about this exhibition is that you could really smell the ceramic, it was like it hadn't settled in completely, it was still a working process. Does the smell suggest that it was not complete?

The groundwork was an interesting change to gallery floors. It was made out of brings stacked alongside each other. Not all the bricks were stuck on still, some wobbled around in their cramped spaces.
I guess if the floor was the galleries bright white surface, it would create a misunderstood contrast between the works. Brick balances out the colour and pulls more focus into Adrian's work.

Stunning!

The work encourages interaction from its viewers. 

I enjoyed seeing the cracks in the work, it created more surface texture which can made it more visually appealing. 

People waiting to get in. Not a long wait but has to be done to reduce any accidents inside that causes breakage of work. 

More of Rojas's work, like walking into his studio and seeing all the mini pieces of work he's made. A collective of all his creations, imaginations, thoughts and more

Different material combinations, unusual objects, wide variety of sizes. 

Still not completely sure what this room is for. It was empty but the blue glass window gave the space a nice glow. 

Serpentine gallery

Outside was this beautifully constructed piece of Art, very abstract and can be walked on. 

Also underneath is a small resting place, enjoy a nice warm drink while seeing others walk on top of you. 

This reminds me of Thomas Heatherwick's Seed Cathedral. 

Except you could walk on that,

What a shame.

 

Inside was an exhibition by Marisa Merz. She is an Italian Sculpture and her woe was rather interesting. 

This was made out of Aluminium. When i saw this, i immediately thought of Rojas's Elephant. This looks like an elephant's trunk doesn't it?

Or something out of the movie predators. 

I am sorry to say i didn't take a lot of photos here, only because we weren't allowed to. When people in the gallery tell me i can't take pictures, it only makes me want to do the opposite.
I try to be sneaky and take pictures spyishly. (Not a real word i know but you know what i mean)

She had knitted copper wire. It was amazing to see up close. metal like copper wire is flexible but not as flexible as .... cotton. She made it seem so easy. This must of taken some time to do but it was worth it. It looks really good!