Inside my studio
This page is intended to share insights into my creative process. I refer to my creative space as "Inside my studio," which encompasses more than just the physical confines of a traditional studio. It includes my garden, daily walks, travel experiences, and even mundane tasks like cutting fruits. Essentially, wherever I am aware of my surroundings and my own observation, I consider myself to be "at work" inside my studio. Furthermore, I believe that intelligence is a result of accumulated perception, gained through a heightened sensitivity to the world around us.
Playing with the light on and around this delicate structure. The way I read "time."
The way I encounter this universe.
Accumulated daily "seeing" and my visual response. Beyond color, form, shape, value, etc, "s seeing" includes 1. textures such as wet, dry, oily, smooth, rough, sticky, temperature, and 2. movements such as growing trees, blossoming flowers, passing light, drying moisture, etc
I love playing with light; the interplay between the light and various materials and their behavior; how light changes the appearance of color, form, and even the mood; how light changes in direction, intensity, and color.
The cycle of my work process. Input-Daily work of "seeing." Output-my visual response/my work. This cycle from input to output takes a few years to sometimes over 15 years.
Physical light is an important medium in my work. Nobang, Korean traditional colored transparent silk, allows the light to be kept between the multiple layers of work surface increasing the saturation of all colors and to experience the work in flux.
All around me influence me. All items in the studio are perceived as compositional elements.
This autumn leaf picked up and the work of Monet on this page has been together over a year as their colors and the contrast of texture offered me immeasurable joy.
The dying flower reveals its life-supporting veins. As it loses water and gets drier, the flower makes a more aggressive gesture. When light penetrates its petals, they look even more beautiful as the stained glass at the cathedral.
Before leaving for my artist residency in Assisi, Italy, I read about their "pink" limestone. I found them everywhere during my walk. I put them on a fig leaf to bring out redness against the green, its complementary color. I used these pink colors for the background of one of two drawings created during this residency. This piece was made as a flower offering to Santa Chiara(Saint Clara) in Assisi. The overall color scheme reflects the ceiling fresco painting at Basilica Santa Chiara.
Lights and shadows inside my studio. I spend much time just watching them; how they move, how their color change and their intensity
I enjoy working with the southern light which brings out the saturation of color that I look for. Unlike many artists who enjoy the northern light for its steady quality, I work with the color in flux as I see color is never absolute.
IIn January 2014, I started the project that was named “GREEN" at the beginning. Multiple panels have been executed based on the study of colors of California succulents and cactus. Each panel was devoted to the colors of one succulent. The colors of each succulent were decomposed and recomposed with the mixture of gouache, Korean transparent-colored-silk "nobang", and physical light
Notes on the studio wall
05-01-2020
1.5 months of Coronavirus lockdown. Spring heatwave in Los Angeles. As always, my eyes find the images and conditions that resemble my inner condition.
Examples of hues of green collected from my garden and used for teaching in class about color theory
Colors/light are the main elements daily that aligns my consciousness with everpresent now. "Being a good listener without judging" is how I often describe this experience.
Monochrome. Value. Complimentary color harmony.
After days of walking by these eucalyptus barks, I picked them up and brought them into my studio. I studied, enjoyed observing their colors, textures, and their turning twisting gestures. Then, I developed a drawing project for my class as shown in the photo on right.
A short color(red+white+more) journey today with my camera. All triggered from the colors and taste of my blackberry, blueberry, banana yogurt I made for lunch/snack today.
My visual vocabs inside the studio
Some objects and images of my interest inside my studio
My Amaryllis returns year after year. Watching its color, growing, and blooming process reveals "time." While seeing, the boundary disappears between the observer and the observed.
Domestic landscape. Some of the elements of my art medium and techniques- staining, needlework, fabric, photography, physical light for color, and structure.