Jenny Saville

Five reasons I like the paintings of Jenny Saville:
1. I'm drawn to the apparently wild strokes but on further inspection, realize that they are planned and help to build the structure of the figure.
2. Her colour palette is very "musical."
3. There's an energy in her painting that I also find in de Kooning's.
4. I'm impressed by the gargantuan scale of her work (some of these paintings are wall sized).
5. It's an affirmation for me that painting doesn't need to rely on being flashy, gimmicky, or trendy. Just do what you do. Paint what excites you. Keep at it and soon you'll have gone where no one else has. Keep painting and you'll make some amazing work.

Rosetta, Jenny Saville

Red Stare Head, Jenny Saville

Reverse, Jenny Saville

Reassuring Perspective

The Ogre

The Ogre, 22" by 28", oil on canvas, 2014

All Cup and No Cake

All Cup and No Cake, 24" by 30", oil on canvas, 2014

The Writing Was On Her Hand

The Writing Was On Her Hand, 36" by 60", oil on canvas, 2014

It Gets Foggy At Night

It Gets Foggy At Night, 30" by 30", oil on canvas, 2014

Dana Schutz

5 reasons why I like the "self eaters" paintings by Dana Schutz:
1. Vivid colours and painterly-ness
2. Incredibly imaginative
3. Act as a metaphor for self-image: either self-loathing or self-obsession
4. Ambiguous spaces and light sources
5. Spark my interest in creating "situations" instead of "narratives"

Self Eater 2

Panic

New Legs

Chinese landscape paintings

I've been meaning to post this since last week, but then the sunny long weekend happened and this got pushed aside. Now that I see big rain clouds in the sky, I want to talk about the exhibit of Chinese landscape paintings at the AGGV.
I've never really been able to engage with Chinese painting before. I think this is due not only to my nose-down-in-Western-Art-history upbringing, but also because I wasn't sure on how to "read" them. Up until last year, I wasn't aware of other concepts of "space" in painting other than the fixed point of view of Renaissance paintings and the push and pull space of abstraction. I stumbled onto a couple of documentaries on David Hockney on youtube where he talks about painting that goes beyond the singular view of the photographic eye. I liked this idea and began exploring it in my own work (to varying degrees of failure ;)) and now I feel like my mind is more attuned to this way of seeing the world: moving focus.
I think this opening up of my own perception of space is what allowed me to get into the works on display at the AGGV. I was looking at them not only with the idea of moving focus in my mind, but also as a painter making marks on a flat surface.

I found the exhibit quite exhilarating and as I was leaving the gallery, I could see motifs for Chinese landscape painting everywhere I looked.

My Passion the Sham

I realize that painting is in itself a lie (or illusion), but it's a good one ;)

Searching

I wonder if I'll ever find my answers on a page in my sketchbook?
I find solace in making stuff.
Soothes me.
Gives me purpose.
Keeps any anxiety manageable
and the silence at bay.
Is it vanity that makes me want to represent my life in pictures?
My life is pretty good, a few things need work.
What does it mean to someone else?
Does my reality touch anyone else?
Surely there must be some common experience in what I show.
I am not that unique or different.

The power of smiling.
Thinking of things that make you laugh.
Melt your heart.
Brings you joy.
Beauty.

Beauty is in the silence.

"There is a reason people are nasty and bitter and cruel." Chris Ware
It's our duty as people to find understanding and empathy for those who are mean to others.

I'm reminded of my little brother sitting at his desk on his first day of junior high school. I peeked in his classroom to see him drawing, nearly in tears. I went in to console him. I remember my teacher saying something to me afterwards about "the little muffin will have to toughen up."