Artistic Mediums: Drawing, Painting, Ink, Clay, Sculpture, Photography
Talk about your art, and what you are trying to say: The world is a depressing place in general. With my art I am trying to say that life is full of whimsy and fun if you know where to look for it. My art is full of color and pulls from both pop culture and Asian influences. I first think about what has made me smile that day. These things that make me smile are incredibly divergent. One day it will be the nonsense of 60 straight days of rain and the next day it will be a small child holding a bright yellow umbrella on a perfectly sunny day. I am trying to say that tomorrow can be anything and yesterday can be remembered in 1000 ways, none of which have to be sad or depressing. Yes it's raining but did you see the bright pink camellias that are blooming across the street. There are not built to hold rain so they turned downward and show their bright pink petals to the world. I find this whimsical and funny. What I pull into my art from this experience is not the depressing rain, the endless amounts of gray sky, but the bright pink circle of a flower sticking up its middle finger at mother nature.
How/why do you choose this medium? I like sculpture, clay especially because I can get my hands on it and physically manipulate it exactly how I want it to be. Sometimes painting or drawing my hand goes a way I don't necessarily want it to go. Sometimes the point of the pen is simply too wide or narrow to express what I want to show, sometimes the paint spreads further than I wanted or isn't the exact color that I can see in my mind. Clay and sculpture, hand building especially, put everything in my control and I like that.
Are there any special techniques or tools that you use, and what makes your work different and unique? The extruder (or the play dough machine) is one of my favorite tools. I like to work with my hands so most of the tools I use are things I can physically hold like knives and pencils and pens. I like to control every aspect of the tool. My work is different and unique because I am interested in landscapes and vistas that people seem oblivious to. One day a group of beautiful women walked down the street all so concerned about how they appear to the world oblivious to the fact that I was focused in on the McDonald's sign behind them. It amazes me that you can identify the logo for McDonald's 1000 feet away by only seeing the tip of the yellow arch. It's bright yellow and speaks to me on so many levels. I like the idea of consumerism and the fact that people recognize this arch all over the world
What inspires you?
Ken Taya (aka Enfu) ,
Both of these artists have more talent in their little finger than I have in my entire body. Enfu hits all the right notes with his attraction to pastels and happy visions of Hello Kitty sitting in Adidas shoes shooting a hippo. Funny! I appreciate Kehinde Wiley on even more levels. He is technically so perfect they look like photographs; they are oil paintings. I have seen them up close at the Seattle Art Museum. There are unimaginably detailed portraits. He is a god.