how i became an artist

it's hard to imagine now, but i wasn't very artistically inclined when i was growing up. i was actually very into math (my mom was a math teacher), english, and science. first i wanted to be a doctor, then an engineer, and then a journalist. in tenth grade i had to choose between visual arts, drama, or music. the answer was easy. i can't act at all (i SUCK at charades, never be on my team), and i'm not particularly musical (though my brother is amazingly so), so i picked art as the most tolerable option.

i took the class for a semester and i did well (to my surprise), but i wasn't passionate about it. then it came time to choose classes for grade eleven. i hadn't planned on taking art again since i had already filled my arts requirement, but i came across my teacher in the hall and she was very adamant about the importance of me continuing taking courses in the arts. so adamant that i actually immediately went and penciled in both visual arts II and photography and printmaking I into my schedule for the upcoming year.

and then suddenly i fell in love with the arts - with making, and introspection. 

i burrowed into my thoughts and let them manifest themselves for the first time through my words, paintings, and sculptures. i captured them through collages and photography.

it was exactly what i needed. i found it to be both soothing and cathartic. and it very quickly became inseparable from my life. i carried my huge sketchbook everywhere i went and over time it became an art piece in itself. in a way, my sketchbook was my only confidante. i told it things that i told no one else.

in grade twelve i considered doing an english major, but then at the last minute decided that what i really wanted was to go to OCAD to hone my skills in the arts. going there made me more disciplined, knowledgeable, technical and professional in my executions.

but since i graduated i feel as if i've left something behind.

my thesis was so important to me because everything in it was a part of me. it was nurtured by my deepest and most personal thoughts.

that is really why i create - because i hate the feeling of things left unsaid, and because words are not enough to describe an experience, a feeling, a loss.

because there are things i want to share, but i can't find any other way. 

to me, it was never supposed to be about competition, or making money, or winning awards. but somehow that started to happen anyway. 

so i am going back to my roots. i am writing and thinking and analyzing all the time. i am confiding in my sketchbook again.

so my work may change, but that's only because i have changed.

finding inspiration

i was sitting in on an Advanced Painting class the other day and the students were presenting their inspirations and source material for their upcoming project. one student said that he likes the idea of authenticity and virtue in his own work and preferred his inspiration to come from him rather than other artists. he was more inspired by approaches, concepts, songs, and films rather than drawings and paintings.

i found myself nodding along with him - his ideas about the creative process are similar to my own. i definitely appreciate the work of others in my field, but like him, i don't find that i take much, nor do i want to take much from them when creating my own work.

to my surprise, some members of the class were very skeptical (and very vocal) of his ideation process. they felt that he couldn't really grow artistically this way and tried to persuade him to admit that he was profoundly inspired by the art he saw.

my main form of inspiration comes from words - from songs, from novels, from disjointed phrases i've picked up over the years. i like to create work out of ideas that i expand from these phrases, out of the emotions i instill in them, that i find in myself. with these ideas i work with imagery i've also garnered from novels, or films, or nature. the phrases that i collected here were major inspirations for my thesis work.

why should i pretend that i'm inspired by things that i'm not? i think that any inspiration is valid inspiration.

i'm glad this student stood his ground, there is no one process to making, and he shouldn't have been forced to admit otherwise.

MAGazine article

i was asked to represent OCAD's jewellery department in the Metal Arts Guild magazine for their College Review issue last year.

Elisabeth Heidinga interviewed me as well as Joyce Yang and Melissa Oleniuk about our experiences at OCAD and included images of our thesis work for the article - including my branch bun cage there's nothing here but what's here is mine. it was really exciting at the time since it was the first time my work was in a magazine.

i was absentmindedly going through the latest issue of MAGazine and unexpectantly saw my treehouse piece included in this year's article by Jessamyn Khan. It was a nice surprise.

i'll try to scan the article and post it soon.

changing your routines

so...i also create baked goods...sometimes. i'm trying to get into more routines lately since they keep me focused.

i really try to advocate a balanced lifestyle, especially to the other makers i know.

during my first semester of my thesis year at OCAD i became so driven about my work that i was never relaxed - and always tense. i wasn't eating well or giving myself any time to wind down. i was prone to injury because i was overworking my body. sometimes my eyes would twitch for days because i wasn't getting enough sleep. it was all work, work, work, and no play.

after speaking to my advisors at end of term, i realized that they were happy about my progress but worried about me.

with their advice, i started heading home from the studio at a decent time, gave myself breaks in between long work sessions, and started doing a weekly yoga class.

these little changes may not seem like much, but they kept me from burning out.

and then i realized, that this kind of attitude would let me stay in this field. i could stay sane, healthy, and uninjured. i could become inspired by life, instead of dogged down by stress. i could enjoy the process of making alongside all the other great things in my life that i thought i had no time for, but actually did.

who knew?

featured artist

i just found out that i'm one of the featured Ontario artists from the Metal Arts Guild :)

"the world's best photos of sculpture and sterling"

just found a couple of my pieces on "the world's best photos of sculpture and sterling" gallery courtesy of flickr hive mind :)

to learn more about these pieces click here.

an article on crafthaus

i've recently joined crafthaus which is an online guild of sorts where professional craft artists display their work and build connections.

Rickson Salkeld is one of their frequent contributors in discussions and recently published  "Who am I? I am Canadian." There she compiled a small gallery of "some of the great Canadian jewellery, ceramics, and miscellaneous craft artists [that she's] come across in [her] travels" and has graciously included one of my thesis pieces "just because you feel it doesn't mean it's there." 

thanks Rickson!

the militarized mind

i saw inception the day after it came out. ever since i heard about it, i was SO excited to see it in the theatre. and not just because christopher nolan is visionary and thought provoking but more specifically because the film revolves around intrusions of the mind.

some of you may know that my thesis work revolved around secrets and the walls that accompany their keeping. i liked working with this concept because the barriers i created were initially intangible. i gave them form in my wearable sculptures.

this movie resonates with me because there were instances in this movie that depicted the militarized mind and how the subconscious reacts to intrusion. it was amazing to see.

i knew during my thesis year at OCAD that i wouldn't stop my series on secrets with graduation, that it would be an idea that would change and grow. i'm working on some new ideas now...i'm really excited about where it will go.

a little publication

i recently found out that one of my pieces was included in the Ontario Craft Council's Annual General Report. it's just a little photo of my labyrinth bun cage "sometimes goodbye's the only way," but it's there.

above it is a piece by the very talented miss julie moon. i was fortunate enough to see her MFA thesis work at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition last weekend and it was ah-mazing.

i especially love this piece and want it in my home:

TOAE is over!

thanks so much to everyone who came to my booth at the Outdoor Show. it was amazing to hear all the positive feedback and everyone's plans to colour co-ordinate their outfits to my jewellery :p

a special thanks to Jon, Jay, Warren, Yoon, Sherif, Joyce, Maha, and my parents for being so helpful, patient, and hardworking. i couldn't have done it without you guys.

it was a really great (though exhausting) experience and i'm looking forward to participating again in the future. one of the good things about the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is how much it can lead to other things in your career. for some it means commissions, or getting picked up by galleries or being asked to participate in shows.

i did get a few commissions that i've already started working on now. but i've also been pre-approved to participate in some upcoming shows such as the Cabbagetown Arts and Crafts Sale which is happening in September. i'm going to keep trying to make new designs and play with more colours in my enamel work - so get ready to see more of me and my jewellery soon. i told myself i'd have at least have two days to rest...but then i found myself in the studio the day after anyway! i just can't stay away!

i was really fortunate to have had my booth moved to underneath the bridge area in City Hall. because of this i was able to get a nice corner space as well as a good mix of shade and sunlight. it also sheltered me from the insane rainfall that plagued us during set up. i basically set up my booth looking like a wet cat.

but it was done with much help and i'm happy with the results.

here's my three cases...colour coordinated of course! i had more red enameled pieces but they sold out so quickly.

this show was so busy that i barely had time to see any other booths. i had limited myself to the top 15 i wanted to check out, but i'm pretty sure i only saw 5, and only because they were on the way to the restrooms.

for some reason all my set up pictures were taken with my dad's camera...so you can't see us looking all frazzled and rushed. but here's one of my friend Nini, hurriedly setting up her own booth which was only two down from mine.

thanks again to everyone who came by, it was lovely meeting you all.

enter ocad: some material art and design highlights

as usual, OCAD had way too much to see at its annual grad show. just to see the thesis work of my friends took up almost all the time i had to sight-see.

here are some of the material art and design 2010 thesis students whose work deserves mentioning:

Homa Esmaili's Round Squares was a fan favourite. Her guestbook proves it with both inappropiate and appreciative comments. inspired by her interactions with men, she broke them down into some common stereotypes that were both witty and intriguing.

and some detail shots:

 i love love love Caroline Yu's bearded porcelain cups that were featured in the material art and design sale. why didn't i buy them...

Iris Cho's cutlery about selective eating disorders was also great to see. she had a video on display as well showing people trying and failing to use her utensils. the many-hinged knife, fork and spoon set was particularly funny to watch.

 

Sachiko Burgin's Entwined jewellery series about twinship was another great display with interesting pieces. both her and her twin sister are extremely talented and will be a force to reckon with should they ever team up. Sachiko's display is the kind that I wanted for my own work, too bad it wouldn't have really worked.

and how could i not mention my friend Jon Riosa? his wearable sculptures on restriction were so dynamic that his guestbook was full of outrage that he didn't win the medal.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

I've been waiting for a while, and the results are finally in. I'm going to be exhibiting at the 49th Annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition this July, and I am both nervous and excited. It's a HUGE national juried show in Nathan Phillips Square with thousands and thousands of visitors each year.

I'll be exhibiting my thesis work alongside a whole bunch of new wearable enameled pieces that I'm busy working on now. It's going to be a busy summer!

one of a kind show - one day left!

you have one day left to check out the one of a kind show! i didn't have a lot of time to walk around today since i had to man the booth but i did get to try some yummy treats (smoked salmon pate for one :D) and see some great handmade pieces.

thanks to everyone who's come out already!
 
here's some pics from our booth:

it's a small world

i finally got the newest awards and scholarships pamphlet from the ontario crafts council.

i'm lucky to share this little publication with some very talented, award winning artists.

michelle mendlowitz is on the cover, then from left to right its alain belanger, daryl ferrette, julie moon, (they forgot to cite the next one, but i think its tiana roebuck), me :D, and then annie tung.

we all had a show together with the other winners last year but it's funny how small the art/craft/design world can be. especially when many of its artisans started out their careers at my school.

michelle was my ceramics technician at OCAD when I was learning mouldmaking, she also helped me learn how to use the pottery wheel :) julie's work is ah-mazing. i especially love her new masters sculptures. they're so whimsical - modern and retro at the same time. she used to be OCAD's cashier while she made beautiful ceramic sculptures at night. me and jon used to harass her for our paycheques every week. and finally, i am also a great admirer of annie's beautifully haunting work - i have been ever since I saw her thesis work at OCAD's annual grad show when i was just starting to delve into jewellery.

it's done!

so this is what has been plaguing my life for about 6 weeks now. every spare second was spent drawing and manipulating and joining (way harder than you can even imagine) these tedious lines to make this hammer 3D printable compatible for my small object design class. will i 3D print this hammer? no.

but now i have some skills to design crazy complicated jewellery that can be machine printed in wax, and then cast into silver.

learning rhino is arguably one of the hardest things i have done in my artistic career...and i have done some hard things (like making this 6 different times until it was just right, or my chair/storage compartment made up of over 300 pieces of wood).

at first making a line go where i wanted it to in 3D space was so frustrating i wanted to drop the course. but i'm glad i stuck it out, now i have a new skill :)

some more cocoons

i did some more tests on tuesday. i like the ripped effect on metal, it was time to see it with enamel on top. i found that the big open gashes work better when there's an enameled surface. but when it's just plain metal, i like the spiderweb like cracks similar to the one in my thesis piece: you try to take the best of me.

i don't like the butter yellow too much in this context, maybe if it was on the ones i showed in my previous post...i tried to change it up a bit by adding a transparent enamel, but it stayed almost the same. if i could do it again i would use a more subdued yellow.

i only have two more enameling classes left at Jewel Envy...i'm tres sad.

display

finally, a photo from the Cedar Ridge Gallery show. Here is my model Raylyn in front of my work and pictures of herself :p

you can't really tell from this photo, but we were really lucky to get such a great space. we got three gallery rooms for the 8 of us which is amazing when group shows in Toronto are normally half the size, with 3 times the amount of people exhibiting.

this is how i work

...always with my hands.