Piet Mondrian - Composition No. 12 with Blue (1936 - 1942 )

Tonight I’ll be writing about one of my favorite artist - Piet Mondrian. As one of the pioneers of abstract paintings in the early 1920’s and 30’s - he really came up and shook things up a little for us :)

I admire him for his stamina towards sustaining his style of painting, and his devotion into understanding form, abstraction, and composition in an nonrepresentational arena. Learning from the best, I too devote myself into working, and reworking until my insides scream and shout that it actually looks great :) Mondrian is about simplication - stripping away the details and abandoning the notion of representation. In addition, his art is related to his spiritual and philosophical studies. The “compositions” as he called his paintings - are made up of vertical and horizontal lines.

I continue to learn from him because what I paint is also a series of simplified images. At times I struggle with this because as an artist I feel the need to evolve my style of art and to improve upon what I do, but at the same time retain my style and my beliefs towards my artwork. Mondrian also found this challenging. From his earliest paintings, “Composition No.12” towards “New York” and then lastly “Broadway Boogie Woogie” Mondrian passionately continued his work despite the tension between continuing his style of painting and developing as an artist. That is one of THE MOST beautiful aspect about being an artist. We are constantly changing and challenging ourselves. Like Mondrian, most artists are extremely self-motivating and independent, which derives from the desire to be creative and to “release our insides” - but in an orderly fashion. Sorry, I am so crude sometimes - forgive me! :D Hopefully in due time I will discover my insides…

Goodnight :)

Wynne

I feel a bit uneasy tonight… Not exactly thrilled, but not sad either…  I do know the importance of being optimistic.  I make a conscious decision to be positive and optimistic whenever I can.   I have come 360 degrees in the past year, and I strongly believe that everything else that comes in the future for me will be positive. If I didn’t feel and want that 100% I wouldn’t be where I am in my life at this very moment.

Today was a mellow-dramatic day… Good in most ways, and if I am optimistic - everything went really well today.  It was someone’s last day today, and it was bit sad to see him go, because I think that we were just starting to get into the groove of things.  The great part about it is that he will be taking on a great initativie, and I’m excited for his future.  The entire department went out to a restaurnat called “No Regrets” and had a nice lunch :)

Tonight… Tonight is a beautiful night.  The skies in Toronto are clear… and the rain stopped.  I have my window open and I could feel the nice light breeze hitting against my shoulders.  I’m sitting by my desk again, but this time with a glass  of wine on my left hand side…  I’m relaxed, and excited for the weekend.  I plan on waking up earlier tomorrow to go for a quick swim in the pool, and then paint for a few hours.  With all aspects of my life, this is what I enjoy most.  Painting on Saturday morning…  It’s so quiet in the mornings… I paint by my window, and I since I have walk-out balcony from my room - I leave the balcony door open to let the autumn breeze in as I paint…  The satisfaction and release I feel from these mornings are incredible… I woudn’t trade it for anything in the world, and I am grateful that I have this in my life.

One of the best known, and in my own words notorious artist of our time - Mr. Jeff Koons. Most of his success was created by pop culture - the man who sold the life-sized ceramic sculpture of Michael Jackson and Bubbles to Sotheby’s for a whopping $5.6 Million US dollars.

Koons uses this sculpture to criticize the idea of consumerism, the pop culture and idols.  He took what we as a society regards as an idol, and transformed it into a saint-like sculpture that one would see in a church.  He is deliberately criticizing the society and how it worships idols to a horrible extent.  The sculpture is made up of ceramics, but the size is almost horrendous and scary-looking in real life. Click  here to read more about this sculpture: http://www.sfmoma.org/msoma/artworks/88.html

*screen shot from video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv-WI6Vlrpk

I found an interesting video that perhaps all Asian Americans could personally relate. I think that it’s important that we raise the issues on beauty, conformity and standards. The truth is that too many of us Asian Americans struggle with the double-standard. We are a culture that is so ingrained in our roots, yet we live in a Western world with a completely different definition of beauty. I thought that the video was an interesting investigation into the definition of the problem, but there weren’t any solid solutions. Perhaps it is eluding that the solution is unknown. As cities become more multicultural, how do we define and accept our physical selves without having society dictate our definition of beauty. Is there a democracy in beauty?

Asian American Beauty - Female Body Image (Part 1 of 2)

Asian American Beauty - Female Body Image (Part 2 of 2)

More information about Calvin (creator of video): http://www.CUfestival.com/

I’ve discovered recently, well that would be lying, but most people know that I could be quite moody. I don’t choose to be this way, but at times I just feel so overwhelmed. I feel consumed and confused. People nowadays like to talk about their feelings often, but I disagree. Our feelings is the core of our relationships, and without them how would be sustain a society or place values on all is occurring. In our society there is a constant bombardment of simulation.

My brain might be a little tired of it.

I’ve never really wanted to tell anyone about my feelings because I never valued them.

Tonight as I sit at by desk facing the balcony in my beautiful home, with my exquisite laptop… I stare into the lights coming from the skyscraper buildings before me… I feel blessed to have a home and everything that I need to get through the night.  Do I really care that I’m renting a condo, or do I care more about the fact that I am fortunate and thankful enough to find my passion?  Myself?  How many people do you know out there who are still struggling with that despite already archiving their notion, or society’s description of “success”?

Is that what life is about? Have we all just been programmed into wanting all these things that aren’t so important after all?  Has success changed your life recently? What are your views on giving it all up for taste to “have it all”?

Alright, so you out there who accepts it and believes in it - and that people like me are in denial.  Are you then in denial because you have given the right to someone else to choose and describe your idea of success?

You tell me.