what is this?

this is in preparation for coursework. its a test paint on one of the animals that may appear in my coursework. theres a combination of 3 types of animals. the face is from a sea turtle, the body and horns are from the blackbuck, the tail from an octopus. i think its kinda interesting to paint such animals. at first i looks kinda weird but after painting it, it seems kinda normal to me :)

marion rose inspiration : the body has streaks of red and blue. i didnt want to blend them cause i think it will kinda interesting if the body does not only have brown (too boring!!)

its done using acrylic. acrylic is also a fun medium :}

2011, untitled, acrylic on canvas

ARGH MY COURSEWORK. WHAT TO DO!?

food for thought

okay so i have just attended a talk by prof T.K Sabapathy, which led me to think of some questions and im gonna post them here, in hope that someday i will be able to answer them and if anyone who is reading this has something to say or knows the answer to any of the questions, feel free to leave a comment.
okay im so tired right now. sigh
my thoughts are all raw, so its like grammatically not correct please dont mind.

1.so firstly, mr lim k.b said that what we are doing now is not art.  if you agree, theres nothing much to argue about but if you disagree and say that art is free, so why are we kept in a boundary? why are we judged and graded? doesn't it defeat the purpose of 'art' itself which is to express yourself. so if you are confined to a certain set of thinking, is it still art? still say this is art? well , but art is free. so what we are doing now is just art education, education on art, but not art itself. however, if you still insist that this is art, then what is the real meaning of 'art'?

2. our interpretations are not ours, but rather it is someone else's interpretation but we build our interpretation on it. so because we have some background knowledge of and artwork, our personal interpretations are all influenced, subconsciously influenced, by these background knowledge and who is to say that what we are doing now (in general and to art) is the right thing? what is the boundaries for right/good? what are the boundaries for art? is there even a boundary for art? this brings me back to the question: what is art actually?

3.art is created with a purpose. then can we create art without a purpose? can art be accidental?

4. no art stands alone. what are the boundaries then? is there even a boundary for art?

5.have to be socially responsible -> make the world a better place -> what do you define as good? one man's lost is another man's gain.

6. can art be judged? my interpretation is different from yours, but can you force an interpretation on me?  i choose to take path A, but you say path B is better, but i just want to take path A. is it not right?

7.what is so great about mona lisa? is it because of the artist? the skill? why is da vinci's skill considered the best then? who is to say that? also, who is to say that a certain art is very good. the curators? the museum directors? i can say that matisse's art is the best, but you argue that picasso's art is the best. so who is to decide all these things? who is to decide that what we are learning now is actually the 'right' thing to do? since our own interpretation of things, are not actually ours. who knows, we may all be sleeping and this is a dream. you know inception? someone puts a thought or a mindset in your head. and you are the 'beginning of all things' with this mindset,  you interpret something, and the next person interprets  the same thing after hearing your initial opinion and builds on it. i dare you to say that whatever you are thinking now is purely yours and you are not influenced by some other things. its just that this is subconsciously done. so right now, my thoughts are influenced by many things, many questions, my doubts regarding certain object. there will always be a connection between one thing and another thing.

8.art is such an interesting and complicated thing. (not knowledge because that is not what art is) so what is art then? is there a distinct definition?


oh and finally, what is the diff between modern and contemporary art?????is there a distinct difference?

Artists have a social responsibility to uphold.

Art, by the party line, is "created"  to enrich our lives, show us things in a different light, present opinions and ideas and to challenge public norms To touch us with beauty and grace on one hand and then tear away the facade that covers society's ills with the other. so do artists have a social responsibility to uphold? well, i think that there are two sides to this question, the answer can be "yes, artists do have a social responsibility to uphold", but it can also be "no, i do not think that artists have a social responsibility to uphold". i personally think that artists do not necessarily have a social responsibility to uphold, whether or not they are responsible for their artwork, it depends what kind of work is it, public or personal art.

why do artists have a social responsibility to uphold? nearly all artists create their work with a certain message they would like to bring across in their mind, be it public art or "personal art", there is an aim and a goal they want to achieve. take artists like Lucia Hartini, Han Sai Por, Ng Eng Teng, Rene Magritte for example, Lucia Hartini wants to express her fustration as a woman trapped in a society full of social expectations; Han Sai Por wants to remind us that human beings are part of nature and not apart from nature; Ng Eng Teng works are on humanity, anything to do with life, the essence of human qualities and emotions Rene Magritte tries to explore the subconscious of the human mind. such work tend to influence the viewers' interpretation of an artwork, and some works of art are quite controversial such as lyoto machida (who drank his own urine) and such artwork may offend people in one way or another. which brings me to the main point, whether or not artists should uphold social responsibility is actually dependent on what kind of art he/she is making, for example, public art or art for his/own leisure ("personal art") public art is usually comissioned by others, for example, an organisation, therefore the artist would probably be given a theme to work with. otherwise, his/her finished work will go through checks to ensure that its content is suitable for the public and whether it will benefit the organisation because if his/her work is so controversial, it would cause an uproar and there will probably be alot of critique regarding the artwork and the organisation allowing such works to be displayed in public. if the artist's work is to be displayed in public, then he/she ought to have the consideration to tone down the "controversial level" of the artwork as his/her artwork would be open to the public, where the young and old can view the artwork and it may offend and influence the public's perception of something.

as mentioned, an art work has the ability to influence and convey messages, which can carry hidden meanings and influence others. for example, Lucia Hartini uses symbolic colours, forms, subject matter to bring across her message, which leads us to think along the way she does. another artist to consider would be David Cerny of the Czech Republic. Cerny once suggested a masturbating woman as an installation to the top of a theater in France, complete with a water-shooting man that’ll occasionally douse the crowd. David prides himself on his enjoyment of making art that generates shock reactions in people. For instance, in Prague, David erected a statue of two kindly-seeming gentlemen. The men are naked, however, and every-other second their respective penis’ are reaffirmed into their individual grips as they shift from side-to-side shooting water, recognized as piss, down into the pool submerging their feet. You can even check-out a 360 degree view of the area by clicking here. David’s sculpture is cleverly entitled nothing less than, “Piss.” Enough said. (look at picture below) such artwork has caused an uproar and much displease among the public. some find such artwork offensive and it may have a negative influence on young children. hence, when placing art in public, i find that artists have a social responsibility to uphold. however, if it is not public art, then i think its a different story, which i will go on the explain what i mean.

non public art can be works in galleries, art work which artists do in their free time, without being comissioned. such art is personal and free and their is no justified rule as to how an artwork should be like. hence it is not necessarily for the artist to uphold social responsibility, in fact,  the audience is given the choice as to whether or not they want to view the artwork, so it has nothing much to do with the social responsibility the artist should uphold. furthermore, if an artwork is too conservative, art will be stagnant and it is difficult for art to progress. also artworks are created to challenge public norms or to raise awareness regarding an issue. however, it is up to the viewers to decide whether or not they would want to view such artworks. it is not the artist's responsibility if the viewers feel uncomfortable with a certain artwork in a gallery, he/she should roughly know about the artist prior entering the gallery. even if he/she does not know about the artist, they are welcome to leave the gallery. 


in conclusion, artists have a social responsibility to uphold when they engage in public art or display their art in public. so to debate whether artists have a social responsibility to uphold, i think it depends on where the art is placed. 


edited in 2013/
i feel that there are different kinds of social responsibilities and though artists are essentially creative beings who express themselves in different ways, be it through art, dance, or writings, they should have some degree of awareness of the consequences of their work.

religiously sensitive works often always incite outrage and incur the wrath of many. Christ Ofili's 'Holy Mary' unfortunately incurred the wrath of NY mayor Rudolph Giuliani who threatened to withdraw fundings to Brooklyn Museum. This provocative work is part of 'Sensations:Young British Art in the Saatchi Collection' This painting, or mixed media i should say, is of a black woman, presumably, Ofili's portrayal of Holy Mary with a breast sticking out of her dress. the butterfly like cutouts surrounding the subject matter is supposed to mimic the angels that usually accompany such works. however, the 'angels' are replaced by cutouts of breasts, buttocks and private parts from a pornography magazine. Elephant dung is also showcased in the work and acting as a pedestal in which the title is carved onto it. Giuliani, together with other catholic groups were outraged and tried to sue Ofili. Another example is 'Piss Chirst' by Andres Serrano, whereby a crucifix with Jesus is submerged into a glistening yellow liquid which turned out to be urine. His work incurred the wrath of Jesse Halms (i really do not like this guy) who threatened to sue Serrano. Also, Marcus Harvey, who showcased a work in Saatchi's 1997 Sensations exhibition, depicting a Myra Hindley, a female child murderer, made of plaster casts of children's hands. This work resulted in a public outcry and was condemned. Harvey was faulted for trying to boost his fame by using such a controversial material for his art. This work was so outrageous that there were numerous attempts by the public to vandalize it . It is the artist's responsibility to be aware of the social repercussions that come with their world. As creative beings, im sure that they will be able to represent their ideas in another way, to reinvent and represent it such that it will not be visually offensive to people. Such works may promote wrong cultures and incite racial riots and chaos. 

some works of art literally intrude the public space, bringing inconvenience and unhappiness to the general public. Richard Serra's 'Tilted Arc' is a 3.5m rosting metal structure that stands in the middle of a public square in New York. From a bird's eye view, the structure aesthetically cuts the urban living space but from a pragmatic viewpoint of the everyday citizens who live and work around that area, this structure was an eyesore. furthermore, it resulted in the citizens having to detour to get from one part of the square to the other. 

however, i believe that art is an escape and hence should not be restrictive. artists, as mentioned before, are creative beings and should have the right to express their views. nevertheless, artists do need to be aware of the repercussions their works may bring, and therefore should reinvent their methods of presenting their message as what they present would eventually affect many people of different age and backgrounds in terms of their thinking and social- moral viewpoints.

animal hats

while researching for my coursework,
i came across this artist called nagi noda
this is his website : http://www.naginoda.com/

he's an interesting artist and i love his collection on animal hair
                     

i love the details of the animals
i think its a rather interesting concept, rather than creating normal sculptures like those made of different kind of stones, nagi used hair, and made it into a hat
i dont know how he did it but i would love to learn how to create detailed sculptures using hair, a material that is soft :/
but unfortunately, nagi noda passed away on sept 7 2008 at the tender age of 35, after surgical complications from injuries sustained in a traffic accident.

random collection of random art and bits of coursework

i was bored in lecture and this happened ...

if you zoom in, i dont know how, you can see tiny details! in the clump of swirls theres an owl and a weird alien figure, spot it if you can~
pen on hand/ 2010

this was taken using my phone when i went malaysia with my cousins. this is a boat ride in the evening so catch a glimpse of the fireflies (super pretty, its like a huge christmas tree, except the lights are smaller, more packed, and prettier!)
phone/2010

pencil shading as per normal, as usual, pencil shadings are difficult... cause i cant seem to control my pressure very well. well this means i need to practice more ://
2B, 4B pencil/ a4 drawing block/ 2011

acrylic painting/ a4 drawing block/ 2011

opps, forgot to rotate these two drawing/painting
both are the same piece of folded paper, except one is black and white (pencil) another is coloured (acrylic) the painted version is the actual colour of the paper. the shadows were not done properly cause i think i kinda got restless :/ im satisfied with the blending though its not smooth blending, that's cause this isnt water colour painting, its acrylic, so its harder to blend. whatsmore, its yellow paper!!!! i find it difficult to paint the shadows, because you dont want to dirty the yellow with black, and if you use black to 'shade' the folds of the paper, its too harsh, so i used purple mixed with yellow, since their complementary colours, its perfect for painting the creases

hawksbill turtle 1
2B 4B pencils on drawing block/2011

hawksbill turtle 2
2B 4B pencils on drawing block
these are some prep work for my coursework, my theme will be on animals :)
2 different angle of the hawksbill turtle. both are done already but i have yet to take picture.
did 2 drawings on tiger, 2 on turtle, 1.5 on  elephant, 1 incomplete (in the process of drawing) deer, still have a lot more to draw!!!! then its composition time, then followed by medium selecting/testing of mediums then the final artwork!!!!!!
hope it turns out nice at the end of the year

random pen drawing on my chinese worksheet during chinese lessons
pen/a4 chinese worksheet/ 2011

watercolour/ a4 watercolour paper/ 2011

painting on a4 watercolour paper.
this is sort of like a test sheet, thought i prefer the proportions here
i like all the faces except the top right corner :/
mix of different interesting colours, forgot the name but its some olive greenish colour, vermillion/red and ultramarine. used loads of water.
overall, i seem to prefer this piece

gouache, zig makers, white pen, black markers, charcoal etc/mixed media / a4 watercolour paper/ 2011
rushed this out in 3 hrs
maybe its cause theres a lack of time, which explains the proportion -___-
used gouache, with lesser water, so the colour is darker, well the contrast is better here then. the top left looks like a Chinese girl, then bottom left looks like an Indian girl, the top right probably a Caucasian? the bottom right ... i dont know.
used a variety of medium here. its not clear but theres this flower/wheat grain/ like thing (same as the drawing on the chinese worksheet) in white pen in the background. its very fine, so it may not be clear here, and when it overlaps into the face, it becomes coloured. charcoal is used to darken the sides and shadow (a little), got the face dirty :( enjoyed this painting process, kinda interesting~ no main theme :/ okay i shall make on up now. theme is on women. hahaha, different women?(cause it looks as if theres diff races ) mysterious me? (theres no distinct colour on the face, so its hard to tell if it belongs to a specific person. its kinda like just shadows)

coloured creatures

these are some of the oil paintings from Marion Rose's Western & Wildlife Art portfolio.

Artist Statement

Color surprises, bold texture and generous paint have always drawn collectors to my work, and now the paintings are bigger than ever before. The abstract spirit of every subject is coming through more clearly with spontaneous gestures that involve my whole body. It's like a dance before the canvas, and the surface is coming alive!

This new direction is proving to be influential to my smaller work as well. It's fresher, with more dramatic compositions and a more immediate expression of essence

marion's paintings are super colourful! (i like!!!) she doesnt really stick to the actual colour of the aimals, instead she uses bright and highly pigmented oil paints. brushworks seem very carefree, which is nice (to me) actually, i love her brushwork haha
cause, as some of you know, i cant do the invisible brushwork thing, it kills me. this is due to several reasons but the main reason is probably because i lack patience. so should i use oil, its natural for me to paint like that, like the blue flower painting we did. the only exception was the pop art nanyang painting. i was 'forced' to paint neatly!!!! cause the theme requires neat and precise brushwork. but if given a choice, i'll want to paint in this manner.
but i think i MAY go back to the neat brushwork because such free brush strokes does not suit my current idea, but who knows, new compositions may pop out from my brain and maybe i'll be able to paint like that! (it'll probably take me a shorter time to paint in this way as compared to the neat way)
the colours she used complement each other and it makes the painting more interesting and more lively (i tried the watercolour version on my sec 3 coursework and my owl turned out like a parrot, but i'm happy with the effect~ though i didnt really plan the colours, its sort of, just 'try-try' or 'anyhow-put-the-colours' kind of thing? i dont know if she plans her colours out or what but i doubt so, cause it'll take real hard work and patience to plan it )
to see more of her paintings :
http://marionrose.com/

i've thought of doing my painting like that, but i have more than 1 animals, and if its too colourful, im sure it'll hurt the eyes

on a side note, i find her colours maybe a tad tooooo bright, cause my eyes kinda hurt a little after seeing it for so long -____-

the warrior woman

srikandi, 1993

1a) Srikandi is a painting painted by Lucia Hartini. It depicts Lucia Hartini herself as Srikandi and there are many aspects of contrasts in the painting. 

Lucia Hartini used the space in this painting well; every inch of the canvas is covered with paint. the subject matter is magnified in the foreground. Behind her, is a maze-like structure that becomes smaller when it extends to the top of the canvas, leading our eyes down the paining, creating depth. Clouds were also used to create depth. By creating contrast in the size of the subject matter and background, and specific positioning of the subject matter, Lucia Hartini was able to create a sense of depth in the painting. Furthermore, the golden ratio is used in this painting to make this painting pleasant to see. The subject matter, Srikandi, occupies around 2/3 of the painting. By doing so, she seems to imply that the subject matter, Srikandi is of great importance. The strong winding walls consist of 2 planes, one straight and one zigzagged. They are placed side by side taking up majority of the background. this can probably mean that though Lucia Haritini appears calm on the outside, which is represented by the smooth straight wall, inside her, she is confused, frightened, uneasy which is represented by the zigzag walls. The remaining portion of the background depicts a scene of a sky, and the sizes of the clouds vary, with big clouds nearer to us and small clouds further away from us. Yet again, a sense of depth and is created, making the vast sky appear endless.  

She used vibrant contrasting colours to paint this painting and her colour palate consists of mainly blue and vermillion, which are contrasting colours. the golden brown Srikandi is draped in a bright blue flowy cloth, which also drapes around the vermillion winding walls. The background is of a mixed of a morning scene and a night scene, whereby part of the sky is painted a blue grey colour, while the other part is painted a orangey-yellow colour. by using bright contrasting subjects in the painting, she has created a stark contrast between the subject matter and the background. The strong colours may be representative of the strong character Srikandi possess, complementing her spirit and body posture. Further contrast is also present as blue is a cool colour, while vermillion is a warm colour.  Blue, which is usually associated with cool, calm emotions mixed with bright vermillion, which usually represents anger, agitated feeling produces a mixed emotion in the viewer.  One does not feel very comfortable looking at the painting as they the colours are highly contrasting and they are mixed emotions painted in ‘Srikandi”.

Lucia Hartini uses the super surrealist style to paint her painting. It is painted realistically, with highly academic accuracy using traditional painting techniques. Her brushstrokes cannot be seen and her painting is meticulous and detailed. Lucia Hartini keeps the drapery soft by giving the cloth curved edges while emphasizing the contrasts between the shadows of the cloth. She then used hard edges for the brick wall and the cracks in the wall and creates contrast using her brushworks as well. Lucia Hartini sculpts herself as a fit and strong woman, smoothing out her brushstrokes while emphasizing the highlights and shadows of her muscles and veins.

b)  At that time, women were under strict traditional culture expectations, which they obediently and patiently placed themselves victims of sexism. Also, the gap between the number of male and female contemporary artists is very wide. In the late 1970s till 1993, Lucia Hartini depicted a sense of terror as she struggled to be herself. As quoted from her, “It tells my obsession with eyes, especially human (spying) eyes, which frighten me very much. They follow me wherever I go and they always want to watch my business. This is because female artists like herself are being looked down at. Female artists have little or no say in the realm of arts and are often scrutinised. Majority of the women succumb to the strict cultural expectations and turned into the housewife that they are expected to be. This influenced the ray of eyes that is painted in “Srikandi”

However, in 1993, Lucia Hartini started to depict authoritative, challenging and strong women. In “Srikandi”, she projects the daring, strong and powerful character of Srikandi, a courageous female knight character of the Javanese shadow theatre, dressed in blue cloth worn by members of the women’s armies who historically protected the sultans of feudal central Java as herself. The figure clenches her fists with muscled hands, her head up, with wide open staring eyes, constituting a strong, challenging gesture against the spying eyes before her, stridently repelling the critical and doubting eyes of society, which has formerly rendered many women prisoners of tradition. She concluded that women should represent themselves as autonomous subjects having potential which is different but no less capable than that of their male counterparts in this shared her. Hence, the depiction of herself as Srikandi shows the determination and the courage to stand up against the public (spying eyes), fighting for her own rights, as well as women’s rights.

Also, due to her longing for a free and peaceful natural environment, after being trapped in the cultural world in Java, Lucia Hartini likes depicting her imaginings of natural elements such as in the painting “Srikandi” ---- clouds and moon. There is also repeated lines on the drapery and the wall. In repeatedly putting fine lines on canvas, Lucia Hartini lets herself be carried away by a personal rhythm, a kind of meditation. Her repeating of lines is like a reciting mantra over and over again, and also by doing so, one can go into a micrio-cosmos or transcendental experience where the gap between the real and unreal becomes blurred. The colours Lucia Hartini used are influenced by her mood, for example orangery red may represent anger. This is a kind of psychological catharsis to release stress and boredom as well as fulfilling her aesthetic needs.

The hard, edgy brick walls may be influenced by the public and represents the strict cultural expectations society has on her, which may be overpowering her as it seems like a maze which she could easily get trapped in. However, by depicting the cloth covering parts of the wall may represent how she is overcoming this obstacle, and that women are slowly gaining their rights in modern Java.