"ouroborous" marks my 1st video work. an altarful of candles burning at both ends & a pack with the devil to get it completed in time for my april show. in the meanwhile, here are a few screen caps & the trailer...
Showing posts with label works. Show all posts
Showing posts with label works. Show all posts
the phoenix egg 复生鸟之卵
my new piece for the art outreach "art of shopping" charity auction on 18th august 2013. a million thanks to shir ee for getting me aboard this uber-cool project, my amazingly supportive suppliers, michael & christophe for technical advice. more on the project in my previous post.
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| front |
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| under the curtain of yarn, the phoenix egg |
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| back view with cosmic ellipse |
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| close up of phoenix egg |
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| detail |
title: the phoenix egg
date: 2013
media: mixed media
dimensions: approx. 103 x 55 x 14cm
artist statement:
rebirth
prior lives & incarnations to be
a phoenix that lives on & on
such is the essence of the gawad kalinga bag -- a recycled object given fresh purpose
at this point, this purpose remains a potential
what creature will emerge after its gestation within this shell: bag or art object?
hence "the phoenix egg"
my intervention involves enveloping the bag in a multi-chromatic film, held together by bright red cords, dangling the possibility of dismantling the artwork & using the intact bag inside
i see the cords as filaments of phoenix feathers, flames incubating the phoenix egg, rivers of lava
the latter is homage to the bag's origins from the philippines, where constant volcanic activity generates destruction & creation, death & rebirth
incubating under this hot red curtain is my rendition of the phoenix egg, unto itself a whole universe waking up
on the other side, in plain view, is how i perceive the ordered chaos of creative possibilities: a sierpinski fractal pattern in a cosmic ellipse
playing with fire: commission for art outreach charity auction 玩火
"the art of shopping" is a fund-raising event organised by art outreach & marina bay sands to raise funds for the charity. for their art auction, mbs corralled a few of their shops to donate fashion items, which were then distributed among artists to add their signature touch.
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| justin lee's art of shopping" |
philippine charity gawad kalinga's bag was my choice for its eco-social creds. made from recycled tetra pak strips, the bag is one of the charity's initiatives to create employment for poor communities.
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| the object: gawad kalinga recycled bag |
in 2 very harrowing weeks, i built my intervention concept around the object gaining second life, a phoenix reborn. my vision of this creation-recreation process was rendered on a multi-chromatic architectural film, which i then wrapped over the bag, holding it together with crimson yarn.
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| the artwork: phoenix egg & cosmic ellipse |
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| punching in the eyelets |
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| wrapping the film over the object |
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| yards of yarn for the final stage |
the completed piece in the next post...
the artling 网上画廊
4 new works, plus "portal", are now available for sale at the artling.
as with my previous works from the "7 elements" series, these are printed on bamboo paper using archival ink. with each measuring 80 x 80cm, & limited to an edition of 6.
topographies of loss 还如一梦中
this series preceded "7 elements". conceived a few years back,
it came out premature but alive, unlike its stillborn predecessors. it was a tough
one to nurture. i was improvising as i groped for bearings as a person & artist.
in the 3 years it took to complete, i had changed in sensibility, & aching to
begin what was to become "7 elements". still, i kept to its original style &
spirit. i like to think of it as a time capsule. of the time before i was
braver in dealing with those raw emotions, layering them with
metaphors & cuteness.
there are few more in this series yet unrealised. who knows, i might, in
nostalgic weakness, revisit them should i live long enough.
statement
loss is a part of life. this i accept. it’s the forgetting against which i struggle.
my work is a mnemonic for me to remember things that matter, lost along the way.
duplication, building redundancy prolongs memory across a proliferation
of files & media. though no copy's ever exact. each reiteration introduces changes. memory becomes transformed through those uncountable attempts to preserve it.
that too is a loss. the loss of authenticity.
coloured by the cartoons & comics of my childhood, i populate my universe with
characters as proxies for a moment or mood. in fixing these half-lives onto
a medium, i hope to hold onto or reclaim what’s gone.
in all these, i'm portrayed as an airborne jellyfish -- a creature as absurdly
fictional as my belief in my ability to staunch this loss. & whose form mutates as
i travel across these landscapes of loss.
seven elements 七行
statement
why are we
preoccupied with the weight of memory when it’s the nature of this weight
which, i feel, deserves greater consideration. because it changes us in ways
right down to our primal core
this is my contemplation on the ways in
which we are changed, using elements as metaphors for these transformations.
that comes down to my personal view of the elements not as fixed material
states, but fundamental agents of change
the mass of
memory is derived from vivid, emotional episodes. often, they are personal.
they could just as easily be those residing in our collective consciousness.
the reason these works are layered with scenes drawn from my own memory,
history & mythology
casting the
dramatic with the comedic, the absurd with the mysterious, the literal with the
symbolic, they seemingly tell a story. or do they? perhaps that would provoke
you to come up with your own way of making sense of them. or re-think your own
experiences. to embrace the weight of memory, not as a burden, but as
opportunity for growth & liberation
size: 80 x 80 cm (displayed image)
medium: archival ink on japanese bamboo paper with mixed media
edition size: 6
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