Fresh project, fresh works.

For those who know me and for those who follow me closely would notice that I am not particularly a painter painter.. but really.. I tend to lean towards a Multi-media practice. However, with an upcoming group show happening late August this year, I will be working on a series of paintings which hopefully by then, I would have generated enough to achieve the effect.

The painting is unfinished and is done with oil paint. However after this piece I will ditch oils and start over again with Acrylic paints, as I feel it will let me be more expressive than using oils. But here is the first self portrait so far... (The images start with most recent to the beginning)... Enjoy:

Will take a final picture and post it up once it is done. Since if I ditch the idea of oils it would mean I probably wont use this painting in the show. So hopefully I get that done soon and I update sooner.

It started with a Spoon

So, it has been a week into the month of March and this means another update.
Within the first two months and a bit of this year, already things have been quite eventful. I had my first ever solo show which took place at Corban's Estate, located in Henderson. Invited to witness a awesome artist at work. And been out and about checking out some awesome shows and events. First, lets reflect on the show.




The year started off with a work load. Clay sculptures, drawing, Peeling, sticking, framing, burning, filming, fire proofing, inhaling it all, trying to avoid fainting. All for the sake of art. Things were to be handed in on the 24th Jan and ready for opening night on the Thursday the 26th. The show would go on for a month, and was taken down on the 28th of Feb.

The view on the first wall after you enter, oh yeah!!!

My show was located in the first room on the right as you walked into the main gallery of Corban's. Titled It Started with a Spoon, the project focused on the idea of utilising a mundane object or tool (a fixed concept on use for it) and turning it into different forms of art of thought and visual processes (which I hoped would have brought about and altered perceptions of its function).

Video Still image, one of the videos exhibited in the show.

In result of the processes, I produced video, sculpture of hands, spoon installation, drawing and other experimental works seen in the show.

View from the ground, spoon installation - '99 spoons'

There was a sweet turn out for the opening night, with great support from friends and fellow art fanatics of whom I met during study and those I met way after graduation. Caught up with Leigh Ogier from Friends of the Auckland gallery, it had been ages since I had seen her, she showed me great support from the end of my high school days and throughout university.

Fellow ex-Whitecliffe graduates and myself posing for a photo. Love the support!

But since then the show has brought about some great feedback, which I was pretty happy about. Art for art sake! Makes myself feel a slight bit more accomplished as an emerging artist.

Toni helping me set up my show, sneaky shot.

Thank you Toni for helping me set up the show, and thanks to Lisa and CEAC for offering me this opportunity and space to have this show! These guys are amazing, such awesome support and kindness!




Eclipse - Open Air festival (Drum and Bass DJ performances outdoors).

Writing my name in the air!

Several weeks ago I had the honor of being invited to witness an amazing artist - Jun Arita (Winner of NZ Redbull stereopticon competition 2010 & E-cube illustrator) paint live at a Drum and Bass open air event called Eclipse. The weekend was filled with bubble blowing fun, crazy picture taking, light play, long drives, great conversations in the car, and nature/country loving goodness. Although the night did start out rocky with injury which couldn't have come in the worse possible time and scenario... but Jun did managed to finish his work eventually.

Our little team of loose creative farts. Barbra, Jun & Jared

The setting sun and view from our camp site.

What Barbra and I did after dark, before seeing the show.

The group of Drum and Bass lovers @ the main stage.

The next day, Jun Arita working on his masterpiece.

First Thursdays - March 2011

Last week, another great event took place on K'Road ... First Thursdays. Organised by the lovely Cleo Barnett, Meghan Geliza & Lauren Orlina, the event only gets better every time. With this event having fashion shows, opera, interactive works, more live painting, bigger craft stores and more venues to uphold the events reputation. With this event only being the fifth, First Thursdays has come a long way since Cleo started it in December 2009 with it only being in St Kevin's Arcade... now.. the event has venues such as Te Karanga Gallery, Rebel Yell, Verona Cafe, Iron Bank and Cross st.

@ Iron Bank looking up to see Opera singer, sitting down was Cleo Barnett & artist Michael Kennedy

The first place I had to stop by was the original venue of the event, St Kev's to check out all the awesome crafts, jewellery, tea towels, prints, shirts... an arty shopper's heaven!!!! Of course I walked out with some wicked Mario Brother's little Mushroom creature earrings and some batman shaped studs for a friend (by Danielle Yuen), a long with a tea towel printed by Boe Busch. But after that, I was on a mission, a mission that I always do, run around snapping pictures!

Askew One, live painting on infamous poster truck.

Wondered around and found myself @ Iron bank, checking out Opera singing, then found myself participating in some interactive panting.. sorta like wish/hope little paintings which will be hung @ Mayer Park. Wondered down to Cross st to find live painting on the infamous poster truck by Askew One, also live radio broadcasting by KFM.

In front of Rebel Yell, two of the Organisers Meghan and Cleo.

Wondered back to St Kevin's to discover there was Rebel Yell, went in to check out the neat exhibition with 3D works and 3D glasses to view them with. That was sponsored by lovely Tiger Beer. Along in the same corridor was a mini Auckland Zinefest, and Chemical Brother music being played (very appropriate since I went to the concert the night before).

Boe Busch behind her stall @ St Kevin's Arcade. Screen printed shirts and other items

Sadly after being lost in the variety of awesome stuff.. I MISSED THE FASHION SHOW!!! argh... would of loved to witness First Thursday's first fashion show event!

View from the stairs of Iron Bank, slow shutter, The White Wall in a blur

As the night approached its end, First Thursdays showcased a band named Heart Attack Alley whom performed @ Iron Bank. The stage broke out into a field of dancing and embrace. Performers of The White Wall showed their fluid-bodily movements in front of audiences. A wicked combination of two art forms to end the night with.

Breaking out into dance while Heart Attack Alley played live

I congratulate Cleo, Lauren and Meghan for another awesome and yet successful event. You guys are hard working and it is such a great pay off. Only a great turn out is a sign on the amount of hard work, passion and love put into organising this. This can only get better every time!

Lauren & I posing with Myspace camera styles

And so, I end this blog here. As time goes on I hope to keep updating with more events and exciting news! I thank those who has supported me with the show.. and I congratulate Jun, Cleo, Meghan and Lauren on their exciting successes!!!


Check out these links below:

Corban's Art Estate - http://www.ceac.org.nz/
Pop Artist, Jun Arita - http://www.junarita.com/
First Thursdays - http://www.firstthursdays.co.nz/
Artist, Meghan Geliza - http://www.sisterdarling.com/
Jewellery, Danielle Yuen - http://planetrawr.co.nz/
Artist, Screen Printing expert, Boe Busch - http://www.rodayobusk.co.nz/

Studio vs Comfort of home

Thanks to Studio Art Supplies for Sponsoring

One People One Planet event @ Auckland Art Week

It has been 6 months since I made a blog entry. 6months and 13days to be exact.. that is if my maths hasn't failed be and believe it has, on many occasions (despite being Asian, it isn't that surprising).

By now, people should know I am a slack updater. Even my Deviant art account is gathering virtual dust particles of 101000101000. So, I guess with this blog, the best thing to do after a long absence is update this virtual world of what I did.

Here I go:

• Seen snow for the first time! I know many would say "What???" But to me, it was a step out of the protective environment of my mother.. I know I am 23 and all, but times when being Chinese, female and a only child defies any age and brings you the... at most... problems of a over protective mother. But putting that aside.

It was a exciting, all 6 of us friends in a van, driven by Aubrey and Only Aubrey (due to mistakes of getting a manual instead of a automatic). But we made it, all the way to the mountains.

• Got myself a studio! In-fact I actually signed the studio lease before the trip. My little studio space situates among other graduates in a warehouse behind the CEAC or as more of you know it up in Auckland. Corbans Art Estate.

A huge thanks to Selene Simcox! Really she suggested I sign up (so we can work together) knowing of available spaces in the area. The community here is very nice, supportive and constantly busy. A very neat place to get your creative juices flowing.

• Was involved in Metonymy! As some of you may have heard, Metonymy (in its 3rd year this year) happens annually, where a writer and visual artist is made into a pair after selection and given about 2 months to complete a piece of work to be once again.. chosen to be exhibited at the Corban's Art Estate.

Rachael Naomi Heimann, Sin-Mae Chung 2010 Let's see where it takes us.

Multi media, sound, installation. Variable sizes.

Rachael Naomi Heimann, Sin-Mae Chung 2010 Let's see where it takes us.

Close up documentation: Multi media, sound, installation. Variable sizes.

I was teamed up with the lovely Rachael Naomi Heimann. A wonderful writer and a hell of a great character! Definitely enjoyed the entire experience with this project. Our whole entire methodology revolved around pure process. There is a beginning, but there is no end.

And so you all know, we managed to make it in the final selection and exhibited, and was named as being a part of the top 5 works of the year. (I missed the announcement sadly) But we thank the guys of Metonymy for this great experience. I met wonderful people through that!

• Was a part of Auckland's first ever Auckland Art Week! Our team Crossover, was asked by lovely Cleo Barnett of First Thursdays to supervise the children activities for One People One Planet.

Art by Marc 2010 Peace cat, santa.

Face Paint fun. By Rachael Garvey and myself.

Although she is best at it. She did the first spider man and the tiger.

Meghan of Sister Darling and Rachael Garvey watching over the first group of kids.

The Goal of One People One Planet, involves the interaction of children, groups of children from schools and places are asked to create a 1meter sized banner on concepts of peace or what they think of the planet that they will inherit some day (these banners will then be combined to hopefully create the biggest peace banner). It is amazing how children have a strong voice on this subject. After this Auckland art week setting, the banners will be taken to the Beehive and exhibited there.. then flown to the USA to the Whitehouse so the children of the Whitehouse will get their opportunity to contribute to the collabortation. Where it will then be moved to be examined and looked at by the Guinness World Records.

I wish them the best of luck.. and we of Crossover thank them very much (and Cleo) for allowing us to help out and contribute to this event.

All the products used for the two Saturday mini project was sponsored by Studio Art Supplies! Awesome guys! gave us loads of canvas material, felts, crayons, and even the face paint! They are a artist owned/run art supply store located in Ponsonby near Whitespace. Definately check them out, and if you want long rolls of paper, they are great guys to look at.

And so this brings me to now! Currently I am working towards a show in January, and aiming to complete my commission by December. So it is crunch time for me. Can't help shake the feeling that I am a bit behind. And I didn't expect that this update would take me.. quite some time. So for now, I will leave it like this and update you next time (and post some images of course) on works I am doing.

Woooo now that this overload of verbal pollution has stopped pounding you in the eyes. You can now relax and think.. oh my gosh.. did I just waste 15minutes of my time reading that? Yes.. yes you did, and I am amazed and thankful that you continued reading. So here I make my marking off.. and I shall try and keep in touch.

Banana.. peace out..

*Splits*

Links:

Studio Art supplies (Sponsor) - http://www.studioart.co.nz/

One People One Planet Peace Banner -http://www.onepeopleoneplanet.org/

Auckland Art Week - http://artweekauckland.co.nz/

Cleo Barnett/First Thursday's - http://www.firstthursdays.co.nz/

Meghan/Sister Darling (artist) - http://www.sisterdarling.com/

Metonymy - http://metonymy.weebly.com/

CEAC/Corban's Art Estate - http://www.ceac.org.nz/

Aubrey Rodriguez (Photographer/artist/spoken word) - http://www.aubreyrodriguez.com/

Ever burnt a Pringle?

Today, as I sit here staring at the clock on the side bar; wondering when my next creative spill will be. I simmer... in old and unhealthy thoughts, like peanut butter on a spoon. Butter in a sugary mix. Burning a pringle... (And my lord does that pringle soak in fat).

Oh how I miss those days of stupid experiments... stupid but creative! Though something sounds silly and isn't justified with academics, it is still worth it in value of knowledge and learning. Unless it is life threatening, but at least that will teach others what would kill a person or not (So I am slightly on the fence with that one).

But today, I submit this post not to randomly spill my thoughts. But to share a idea, something that hopefully will help in someone's survival.



Angela Taituma: a 36 year old beautiful lady and her 4 year old son in the above image, she is fighting cancer.


I read about her story one day through the list that was featured on Yahoo's home page. This would be her second fight in cancer, and my.. she is fighting. Here in her state, she needs medical treatment and that involves pills which she pays a huge amount of over TWO GRAND (NZD) fortnightly and she may also need to fly out of the country for other treatments. And what has she been doing to financially support that? She has been organising her own fundraising. She is serious on Surviving, and that is what I admire, and with that I am willing to help.

I propose a small fund-raising of selling artworks, so far I myself and one other artist is interested in making art for her survival. I have posted up stuff on facebook to find that there wasn't much response. So I am hoping bloggers might be able to pass this message around. If not about making art, at least get some more recognition and help for this lady. Hopefully if I do get enough people interested, we could put up one day shows or openings for the cause. If not, propose for some window display areas, or do some street installation (Of course with council permission). So if your interested, pass me a message.


My email: mae.mc@xtra.co.nz

Looking forward to hearing back from anyone. But before that, check out Angela's website called Fighting Spirit!

http://www.fightingspirit.co.nz/

she can also be followed on Facebook as well! So definitely add her.
But anyways guys, like the days, this blog entry has got to end somewhere. Else I could imagine yourselves Glazing over while reading this. I thank you for your time. Appreciate you popping by! Definitely comment so I can check our your blogs as well! Have a good one.



Sin-Mae

First Thursday's update/ Infusion invite

Thanks to Maj out there for the comment(what I reckon is the best comment ever)on my work:


"For such an INNOCENT girl, your work is all SEX!!!" - Maj


That made my day..


With this show, I felt a little pressure to perform at my best as eyes were on me to bring something a little new and refreshing to the one night only show. An installation set up with strings! Where I would have to set up the day before the show (with some damage of the walls intended but needed for the process)... poor Te Karanga Gallery...


Although, once the set up was done.. it seemed I received great feedback.. and thank lord!


The First Thursday's show on the 4th Feb would have been the second one since their kick off in December last year... although it proved to be a great hit with the art community! Congratulations to Cleo for a great show then and an even better one last week! The show was split up into Three locations this time round, with my stuff in the Te Karanga Gallery across the road from St Kevin's. Although at first it started off quiet due to everyone being at the Arcade.. but during the evening the audience picked up and foot traffic brought many people around the see the works. Anyways.. I will show you a glimpse of the work I put in.. and here it is:

haha, I will post up some close up images soon.. this is just a small general view.. hope you can see the pictures, since they are from facebook.

Oh and here are some few random pictures of me and my work:

Check out the First Thursday's website for more information, they are constantly looking for New Zealand artists. OR... click on this following link for more PHOTOS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay time for the next topic.. You are invited to the INFUSION show happening at the New Zealand Steel Gallery on this Friday .

This time I am submitting my paintings instead of an installation.. woo... having two shows week after another isn't really a good idea.. for those of you who are new to the concept of exhibitions and showing at galleries.. try not to over book yourself unless you absolutely know.. you will make it.. XD


Anyways.. hope to see some of you guys there.. There will be dragon dancers to celebrate the Chinese New Year.. oh.. and there is this artist video thing which I am on.. so... yeah.. i don't look too good in it.. actually I just don't look good in it at all.. wah! D:


Well hey.. I might post up some screen shots if you all are nice XD


Will give you guys an update on that show too. Anyways.. thank you all for reading.. hope all the images make it a little entertaining and laggy.. MUAHAHAHA




Love yall!

Taking another step to life

Friday 28th November 2008.
Whitecliffe college's Graduation day.




My four years as a student at Whitecliffe college of Arts and Design has finally ended last week, as the long awaited capping took place at the Town hall in the city of Auckland on Friday. Both feelings of freedom and sadness arose while we all bid our lecturers and fellow class mates "Bye, I will miss you.. SEE YOU ON FACEBOOK" throughout that day and into the morning.

Now the question that all graduates face, "Now what???".

But before I continue my dilemma of facing life out in the big big world, I will recap all that happened before our day on stage.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tuesday the 25th November 2008.
Whitecliffe college's annual graduates show, class of 2008.




The evening opened up to a crowd of art lovers that jammed corridors and spaces, filling up the entire Randolph street studios. This was an evening where not just the Fine art majors get to shine, but the entire collection of Whitecliffe's BFA degree. It was an evening where design, photography, fashion and the fine arts combine their creative ambitions and collect into this one final show.

It was surprising to see the turn out for the evening, as always the food and alcohol went as quick as lightning, but despite that many stayed to absorb the art that we generated.

Within this show, I showed three video works and occupied two spaces, exhibiting my most recent works titled Volatile Matter. I will be exhibiting these same video works and more for an up coming exhibition at Satellite Gallery located in Newton on the 27th January 2009.

While speaking to many that evening, I have received many compliments along with comments on the surprise in sudden abstract works and change of medium. Taking a step back and looking at my creative processes throughout my recent years, I understand where these comments come from. Originally I came from a painting and drawing background. But eventually it slowly shifted, painting/drawing to painting/installation, to installation and video works, to video works and performance. Before I started studying I would of never thought that I would even think of creating abstract and video works, but I surely am glad that I have come this far (with a lot of thanks to the support of the school, lecturers and friends).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Wednesday the 18th November 2008
Whitecliffe College's Fashion show, Years 2, 3 and Graduates.


The week before our crazy deadline and preparation for end of year show, was the Whitecliffe 2008 fashion show that took place at the Alingi Yacht shed. Featured in this show are some of my fellow friends that took this day as their time to shine in the upbeat pace of New Zealand's Fashion industry.

I was privileged to be invited backstage and witness some of the fashion student's most intense hours before unveiling, and saw some of the excitement and glam in between. After spending sometime there it soon appeared that I was needed by my friend Ho-Ki Lee (featured in the image above) to help watch over her groups rehearsal and time it against the video that I offered put together.

It was interesting to finally see where they had decided to place the projection this year, although it soon dawned that the design that I had come up with intended to be projected near the entrance had been shifted to the end of the run way. But despite this change I thought it would have been better for it as the video could have been a distraction towards the fashion walk.

Following is the video for Ho-Ki Lee's 2008 cat walk, entitled Urban Experience.

The over all the talents presented at the fashion show demonstrated some amazing professionalism and sewing skills.

I look forward to seeing the fashion folk's names in stores and around the world.. I wish all of them and fellow old class mates the best of luck in fighting the creative industry.