Eat Street Series

I'm posting some more older work. I don't have the resources at this very moment to upload newer pieces (or, I should say, newer "pre-pieces"), but soon I shall kidnap a scanner for my own dirty uses! I'm really enjoying words like "kidnap" and "hijack" lately. I think it's because I just watched "Domino," which was an absolutely horrible movie, but kind of awesome at the same time, like a visual orgasm of mtv imagery. Anyway, the following pieces are part of a series that I started with the intention of expanding over time, but alas, I ended up discarding for lack of interest.

Theses pieces were based on the store windows lining Nicollet "Eat Street" Ave. in Minneapolis. Eat Street, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this area, is filled with the most amazing little ethnic restaurants and grocery stores. There's a heavenly bakery called Marissa's that sells fresh pastries and cream cheese filled pockets of happiness! Wonderful.

For my project, I picked several windows that I was especially drawn to, and mentally removed a lot of the hustle and bustle of merchandise, because quite frankly, some of those windows were aesthetic overloads. So I simplified the image and decided I wanted to incoporate text into the pieces. I spent a lot of time at the library researching Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Hmong writing and characters. Arabic writing is so beautiful in design, and I was very pleased with the way it worked with the other elements of the following piece:

Eat Street 1, oil on canvas, 24" x 24", 2004

DETAIL

DETAIL

Eat Street 2, oil on canvas, 24" x 24", 2004

DETAIL

I should also mention that I used this project to try out different stylistic approaches as well. For Eat Street 1, I focused on a more traditional painterly quality, and for Eat Street 2 I incorporated bigger impressionistic strokes and less defining detail. I am not satisfied with the second piece. I wish I had taken it further, but at the time I thought I had a clear idea formed in my head of what I wanted it to look like (never trust a solid plan, I think).

Self-Portrait

I'm not a huge fan of the figurative self-portrait. I enjoy looking at other artists' portraits, but to stand in front of the canvas with a paintbrush in one hand and a mirror in the other is very unnerving for me.

I'm going to swallow the rest of my excuses because, as I'm begining to realize, it's boring to talk about shortcomings and insecurities and multi-faceted periods of gloom. That's what modern art is for :)

Here are two self-portraits that I am not unhappy with:

Self-Portrait, charcoal on paper, 2005

Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 2004

Old School

When I was in colllege I took a watercolors course mainly because I needed another credit. To be honest, my impression of watercolors up until that point consisted of hopelesly boring pastel landscapes and a kind of looming kincade-esque feeling of self-indulgence. Watercolors just seemed so pretty. And kitschy, like something to be hung over a fireplace. How wrong I was! I graduated from that class with not only a deep respect for an extremely frustrating, albeit liberating medium (when the paint starts to spread, there no stopping it) but also a collection of work that I felt completely satisfied with. What follows are a couple of examples:

Untitled, watercolor on arches, 2002


Untitled, watercolor on arches, 2002

The moral of this story? Watercolors: not just for kids and craft circles.

Painting Series #1

The following paintings are a part of an ongoing series. Images were taken from photographs of a certain "style" (think amateur photography). I will be posting my full artist's statement for those who would care to read it. All canvases are 12" x 12" unless otherwise indicated.

Little Boy Green, oil on canvas, 2005

Untitled, oil on canvas, 2005

Green Thinking, oil on canvas, 2005

Blue Mister, oil on canvas, 2005

The Anniversary, oil on canvas, 2005

Snow Cat, oil on canvas, 2005

When Parents Are Away (Children Play), oil on canvas, 24" x 24", 2005

When Parents Are Away (Children Play) DETAIL

Vamos!

The purpose of this blog is really to post my art. From time to time I may insert minor documentations of frustration, irritation, and most importantly, angst, but the bulk of the postings will be my work. Please absorb my art for what it is. I don't care if you love it or despise it. I only care if you are completely indifferent to it. Art is about evoking a reaction, and I want your reaction.

Thank you. Bye.

It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice; there are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.

-Frank Zappa

I think that it is appropriate to start a blog entry with a quote that considers the apocolypse. Particularly, an apocolypse not of raging fires or vast landscapes of frozen tundra, but one of tax returns, diagrams, spreadsheets and "home sweet home" sentiments.