Painting / A balloon dog fighting with a black hole. 2024 winter
This mission came from a call for artists by Allen Street Art (allenstreetart.com). Since I received the panels, I began to doubt whether I could complete this task. Each with a unique shape, they were unlike anything I had ever encountered. Deep down, I felt a natural resistance toward them. And from that pressure, countless anxious ideas emerged. I thought about themes like “Piece of Us,” or “Piece of Me”. These ideas seemed good, but I realized that those ideas didn’t suit the panels. The unique shapes and my sense of helplessness made me view the boards as enemies. But suddenly I thought of the philosophy of Chinese kung fu. When facing a powerful opponent, confronting them head-on is inviting defeat. So, could I perhaps find their weaknesses hidden behind their strengths? The strength is in their shapes, I needed to start with their shapes and deconstruct them.
I began analyzing the features of these panels: straight lines, semi-circles, triangles, and curves. I then experimented with bold lines, thin lines, wave patterns, squares and circles to break them apart. High school geometry and logical thinking also helped. From that moment, I entered a creative state. But there was only one week before the deadline. During the process, I found inspiration from Mondrian's abstract art and his pursuit of order. I felt like a snail, slowly crawling along the path once explored by masters of abstract art and Cubism, faintly sensing a hint of possibility.
The inspiration for the dog came from an accident—at a school event near my home, I saw a balloon artist making animal balloons. The weather was lovely as I stood in a long queue, watching her create one balloon animal after another. The balloon dog seemed the simplest yet the most charming, so I chose it and became deeply fascinated. It’s easy to see why Jeff Koons found the balloon dog so iconic and worthy of exploration. After finding the theme, connecting the storylines across the three panels brought me immense satisfaction. I love painting, and through the process I gained inspiration, technique, and stories. I’ll continue developing this theme until the day I grow tired of it. #ASA #allenstreetart #PiecesofUs #Creative Direction #collage #art #life #artist #design
Collage / The Right Mistake. 2021 winter
I really like using collage to create art because it has many unpredictable aspects. I do not know what I will see on the next page of a magazine, or how it might influence me. I never know when the collage will become complete, or even what will emerge as the subject. There is no worry that the work appears chaotic as the next addition can rescue the error of the previous. I call an error such as this “the right mistake.” #Creative Direction #collage #art #life #artist #design
Clay Sculpture / I Talk to the Wind. 2022 summer
I love how my hands feel touching clay while ideas come to mind. In keeping with Freud's theory of psychosexuality, I hold the clay and experience reality. The whole process is childlike: get an idea, finish it, then a second idea comes, finish that. There is no planning ahead. Take, for example, a clay house - plant a tree next to it, and then shape clouds drifting by. But behind this naïve endeavor, there is some real guidance to offer, about life and death, redemption, and worship. I use sculpture to tell stories, euphemistic and vague, but stories just the same.
Clay Sculpture / Muted. 2022 summer
Painting / Complex . 2022 summer
After going to a little art fair on my back street, well...there were some cute young artists there, with a strong crotch focus for much of the painting and sculpture. Since then I've been wondering what would happen if I put some more eroticism into my work, and what that would look like.
Moments from my life, seen through my phone
