It's the Final Week

Art 14, a ceramic class at UC Berkeley, ended three days ago. I wished there were more criticism and suggestions for improvement on the work I made this semester. The instructor seemed satisfied with what I have done in his class and gave me a firm handshake before he left.

I do not really know how I feel about the class. I appreciate the class a lot, and like what we have done throughout the semester. That's probably the only thing I can confidently say about this class for now.

It's finals week, and I am studying in the ceramic studio.

Going back to Taiwan on the 17th.

Maybe I should start writing again.

I do not know who's reading this blog, but I know some people are. That's what the google stat thingy tells me at the very least.

Since when did I stop updating this blog? I can not remember clearly. The date on the blog is not very accurate and helpful for solving this concern that I have. I have also been thinking less about art lately even though I am still making art. I guess, in a way, I treasure my creations less and less each day. I accepted the fact that they are all going to decay one day or another. I decided to spend less time doing the prideful staring-at-my-own-creation-for-hours and spend more time on people. I know that I just need to continue on art making.

I made this piece during the summer. It was done in Illustrator.

Random Illustration

If I were to only remember parts of my life that I forgot, and to forget things that I remembered, would I still be the same person?

Reworked Illustration

I added details and coloring to this unfinished piece that I began since my senior year in high school. The original assignment is "the opposite". The concept behind this piece is the contradiction between appearance and personality. The red devil is enslaved by the angel who accuses the devil of guilt. It is a piece that challenges the preconceptions of human mind and the often mistaking imagery that we take for granted.

Study of Faces

These two are quick drawings I did when I was in Taiwan. Each took around 20-30 minutes. I used faces that contain emotions one has while praying as my subjects. The outlines are done by color pencils with an emphasis of graphite. The background is filled with black crayon, symbolic of a child-like drawing that is simple, yet meaningful.

Pastel, color pencil, graphite.

Pastel, color pencil, graphite.

Final Concentration Profolio

Art Show_ Kriewall-Haehl Gallery

These are some pictures of my first personal art show. It was fun working with space and setting up the show. The process was tiring but somehow it worked out pretty good. Most art are open for sale.
Unfortunately, one piece of my art work broke due to its fragility... =(

It broke somehow.

Borders

Art show is starting on 14th March at PAC! I will start preparing on Sunday so hopefully I can finish it during class on Monday...

I: 18" X 24"

16" X 22"

II: 18" X 24"

15" X 15"

III: 18" X 24"

Lin Style Jumba-Cheesecake (Improvisation with Strawberry CC and Godiva)

Finished Piece

As requested, I made my signature cheesecake once again. This time I had a little fun experimenting different things. First, I precisely measured the amount of sugar used with the US-cup system instead of measuring in grams (which I didn't do previously anyways lol). Second, I used two kinds of cheese. One was strawberry flavored cream cheese; the other one was Neufchatel cheese (later mixed with shaved chocolate), which, according to its label, has one-third less fat compared to cream cheese (pretty good huh, plus it didn't affect the taste at all). I semi-mixed the two together at the end (before baking), and the taste turned out to be pretty exciting. Third, I used a small cake-mold my cousin bought a while ago, which made the cheesecake cookie-like. Lastly, I used gelatin and banana slice to decorate the cake and took the pictures with my aunt and uncle's camera since I left mine in the dorm...

Experimentation =]

The recipe is pretty similar to the one I used last time. Refer to this article "Lin Style Cheesecake"posted last August (whoa, time flies).

Left: Strwbry Cream Cheese/ Right: Neufchatel

Main Cake Prior to Baking

Fresh-out-the-oven; you're not supposed to eat it yet lol.

Reworked Self Portrait

The color pencil part was done a while ago, but somehow I picked up the sketchbook today and reworked it a little bit.

like our shadows
our wishes lengthen as our sun declines
-E. Young

#6 Lantern

......after the final addition. The photo was taken in my closet, the only place where I can hang it in my dorm room.

#6 Work in Progress_ a Wingless Lantern

Looks like a crumbling tower

      The concept is an inspiration from visiting the shipyard in San Francisco, where artists have their own sort of studio and space to work in. The piece is still at its "wingless" mode. But hopefully, it will grow its wing by the end of next week and will be ready to fly. I built a prototype out of green paper before the execution. However, it is now kind of different from the original design in terms of the patterns and the additional riveted ring. The "wings" are going to grow from the side of the riveted ring, and will hopefully contribute to the emission/ reflection of light at a different level. I'm still considering whether to hang this piece eventually or not.

Interior, a bottom plate will be added later

That polished side has a reflection

Candle Holder #5_ Work in Progress

For this one I am trying to finish it without any soldering and without any riveting. The concept is basically that you can take apart the different sub-pieces with hand pretty easily (like a puzzle!) and yet, mean while, the piece can stand on it's own when assembled. This particular piece is almost finished. The only part that I'm not sure about yet is how (/with what) I am going to support the pieces without taking the essence of it. Hopefully I will finished this one before Christmas break.

Burst

It's been a long time since I posted anything on this blog, but as usual I'm still working on metals, sketches, and other sculptural ideas. During the weekends, me and my friends had a little fun with the sparklers :). I use my digital camera from a while ago, not a fancy one at all. There are some interesting pictures that I think are worth showing. The last one somehow gives me a feeling of a spirit of some kind. Hmm.

Drawing on Fabric

Somehow I felt like drawing and using brushes the other day. There wasn't any reference, but if I am to point out an inspiration it'd be Jakub Kujawa. I need practices in terms of how to use the brushes. For this one I use two brushes plus sharpie and pencil. I kind of like how it came out although I can study the structure of the face more. The painting is done on a piece of fabric.

Candle Holder #4

Media: nickel, copper, brass.

The design turns out to be different from the original prototype, but I actually like this form better than the original one. Soldering this time was a interesting process since in order to solder the dome onto the cube I had to do it upside down so that the position would be held more secure.

Some other recent works:

Decision_Work in Progress

5-sided, not soldered yet

Hi every one! Yeah so this project has been delayed a little bit since a lot of things are taking place recently. This piece particularly is based on the prototype mentioned in the last, last article. The two tube-like pieces on the side are NOT SOLDERED since I don't know what I really want for this piece yet (also the piece in the front is probably not going to be that big). Plus there is very likely going to be a third piece of tube to make the piece more balance and to activate the space more.
So one decision I'm trying to make is whether or not I should leave the color like that when it's oxidized (indicated in the picture) or that when it's polished. They give very distinct feelings and I'm deciding whether one will work better than the other.

4-sided, oxidized

The original plan was to polish every thing, and paint the entire internal space red (and maybe adding string?), making the piece modern-looking. The thing is that the original design did not have the patterns on the sides, which now make it less industrial. I'd probably solder the last part of the cube first and then decided which one is more sculptural at last.

another view, polished

Any suggestion?

Previous Works_ 3D

These are the some of the previous finished, 3-dimensional works that I have done over the past year and a half. I added watermarks so that hopefully the images wouldn't be pirated =].

Pewter+brass+nickel+patina, 1-inch tall

Copper+spray+patina, 4-inch tall; 5-inch wide?

Aluminum+brass, 2.5-inch wide

Bronze+patina, 7-inch tall

Sculpey+acrylic+model magic, 5-inch tall

Brass, 5-inch tall