some new

Apparently wordpress can only hold 10MB of information. To compensate for this I’ve deleted the past posts: “how we do: Music Camp, GGG, electronics heaven, bad jokes” and “Got Webcam.” Not because they are inferior posts, but they have pictures on them. That’s it! They’re gone. But it makes room for this entry that I’m writing now, and my blog is long overdue for an update.

Zeppelin

Graphite on paper, 40 x 57 inches, 2009.

- When I lost my studio space in Long Island City, I had to start making all of my work in my bedroom in Brooklyn. This forced me to stop making large observational oil paintings. Instead I began making abstract drawings mostly dealing with mark-making, and for whatever reason, also some drawings of vehicles on paper. This is one that I had begun before I moved down here to Spartanburg, and completed right before the Entry Show.

… A detail shot of the cockpit. I was trying to figure out how these amazing modern machines worked – not by researching the history of them or by studying engineering, but by using drawing as a system of thinking, and discovering the structure for myself. Obviously, if you compare it to an actual blueprint, you’ll find some differences but yes, they are “built to function.” The engine, the buttons on the control panel, the infrastructure, all of the pistons, etc, connect with each other in a rational, sensible way. If this baby were real, I could fly it.

Another detail shot. One engine is located towards the mid-back section of the zeppelin, where power is generated and then distributed to the smaller engines in the wings. Much of the gears that control the maneuverability of the craft is also located here, taking commands from the control panel in the cockpit through a system of gears. If I had a personal website, I’d show you my car too, and my prototypes for a submarine. One day…

Hawaiian Breeze towards Northeast

Oil on Canvas, 40 x 32 inches, 2009.

- I have always enjoyed painting from cold observation. This is the first painting I did here at Hub-Bub, and I found it annoyingly challenging. It took a lot longer than I expected it to take and I’m still not sure how much I like it. Eh, it’s grown on me little by little.

Here’s a detail. Hawaiian Breeze is the name of this guy, my personal fan. I bought it for fifteen bucks one unbearably hot day in Brooklyn. One could say it saved my life. New York City is too expensive, and air conditioning is a true luxury. Hawaiian Breeze kept me nice and cool for three hot summers, gently humming on my back as I slept in sweat. Well, it turns out I’m hooked up with AC here at the ‘Bub, so my little friend had become obsolete. It found a resting place by my window, plugged in and ready for action, staring into it’s own reflected face, perhaps comtemplating the direction of the yellow lines on the road, pointing to a time and place when it was more important. Corny?

Growth

Oil on canvas, 54 x 54 inches, 2009

I thought this day would never come, but abstraction has begun to creep up within me. It all started with drawings. Now I’m actually making paintings. There is a lot of influence, I think, from friends of mine who have been abstract painters for quite some time. I couldn’t really do it until recently. Check it out: ericwendel.com  jiyongkim.com carynalyssablum.blogspot.com mo-knows.blogspot.com there are many more but I can’t seem to find websites right away.

Cottonwood

Oil on Canvas, 10 x 10 inches, 2009.

From the anniversary of the Cottonwood Trail this year.

Transcontinental Live Webcam Portraiture Series II – Spartanburg, SC

Oil on Canvas, 9 x 11 inches each, 2009

If you read the “Got Webcam” post that I deleted to make room for this post, this is what came out of it. In 2007 I did my first series of portraits of friends and family painted from a live video-chat. From California, to New York, to Rome. It’s a reenactment of the very old, traditional model-painter relationship. Here is a second round of the same idea, from top left to bottom right:

manthi38 sitting from Philadelphia, crayonblooom sitting from New Jersey, crayonbloom and iisyjiyong sitting from New Jersey, iisyjiyong sitting from New Jersey, boscooocsob sitting from Salt Lake City, mmmmyoung sitting from Brooklyn, uadhikar sitting from New York City, djgilderbeast sitting from Salt Lake City.

Between Beams

Oil on Canvas, 54 x 54 inches, 2009

I’ve got some friends that are particularly interested in plants and growing them. It all began for me when I was given some nearly dead tomato plants earlier this summer. They used to belong to my friend’s brother – to make a private and long story short. Thus began our gardening at Hub-Bub, in addition to that little bed in the front, I began to grow some things in my apartment. The mini tree at the top was a gift from Claudia, the plant right in front of it to the left was left behind by Ellie, next to that is some basil, in front of those are some chives and some flowers picked up from a walk by my mother when she was visiting. Closest to the viewer is a little violet single leaf plant I have never seen before. What is it?

Detail shot. Mmmm, you love chives, don’t you.

Hendersonville Backyard

Oil on Canvas, 11 x 9 inches, 2009

Went up to visit those plant loving friends of mine for Thanksgiving. They live on the side of a mountain with light hiking trails.

Untitled

Oil on Canvas, 40 x 32 inches, 2009

… the red, blue, yellow stripes on the mid-left may have something to do with Korea.

Nude Ono Costume for “The Evenin’ of Earthly Delights”

Oil on Canvas, 60 x 40 inches, 2009

‘The Evenin’ of Earthly Delights.’ Did you come to this Halloween party that Claudia and I planned? The one that was based off of Hieronymus Bosch’s famous triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights? Kara Walker-esque silhouettes of scenes from the painting, a replica of the pink fountain in heaven, astro turf covered bar, birds hanging from the ceiling, the altered Brasserie mural, the banners of running wild boars and horses, the Frankenstein stuffed animals, the free, um, party-bottoms, it goes on and on. It was a lot of fun and work making this party happen, again, thanks to everybody who pitched in a hand. I wish I had some pictures of the whole project but I suck at documenting. I think there are some pictures up on Hub-Bub’s flickr. Claudia and I were John Lennon and Yoko Ono, respectively. After looking at Bosch’s painting for a while It was obvious that we had to be nude John and Yoko. Here is a painting of my costume – an altered unitard with Yoko imitation anatomy attached – hips and more, a wig, and my shoes.

Detail of Nude Ono Costume. This painting was supposed to be on display with the others at the Spartanburg Day School, but it was censored out. That’s fine with me. I thought I was done making offensive work when I was 20, but I guess I can still traumatize children. Go see the show at the Day School if you’re in the area.

Opponent; Tom

Oil on Canvas, 40 x 32 inches, 2010.

I apologize for the poor quality of this image – I was rushed to take a picture of this painting because it isn’t mine. I’ve been taking commissions for a while, this is the second one I did while at Hub-Bub (I forgot to take a photo of the first one, or the file is missing on my hard drive somewhere).

I would love to share other things I’ve made with you, but some things aren’t meant to be shared through a blog. So this is the last image I’m posting, a close-up of Tom’s face. His brother got one exactly like this too, but again, I can’t seem to find the file. I never paint from photographs when it comes to making perceptual work, but in the line of commission work, I will. So if you’re wondering, this painting is done from a photograph, but I normally never use photographs for a reference. Not that I have anything against paintings done from photographs, it’s just a part of my own personal process and conceptual reasons for painting, which I will not bore you with today. The paintings should speak for themselves anyway – I’ve said too much.