Volumes

the creep factory..

2012-03-01T19:25:00.001-05:00

..is up & running:

as i said yesterday, this semester has been crazy. i'm exhausted. i've not got many things completed, but i've got a ton in the works. these faces are part of a series, all of which are turning out pretty differently. i'm seeing them as an installation.. & i'm seeing a LOT of them. they're all going to be painted like actual faces, lipgloss & all.

i said i'd post a ~real photo of this a while ago, buuuut i never took one, haha. it happens. here's a picture i took on my phone while it was hanging up during the critique.

good thing i have to photograph my work for my seminar class later on in the semester.. i'll probably make a massive post with everything i'll be putting in my portfolio, along with my portfolio itself. i decided to go with a homemade leather & wood portfolio rather than one of the big black rectangular ones. i think it mine suits my work more so than the commercial ones do.

i'm still alive

2012-02-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

more to come.. this semester is crazy.

i swear i have a real camera

2012-01-31T01:28:00.001-05:00

i'll post ~~real~~ better pictures later, but i took these on my phone the other night during my painting class. just a few progress shots of that cardboard painting! it's nearly done now & due on wednesday, so if nothing else i'll have actual camera photos by then.

i'm really loving my senior seminar class. it's teaching us how to write a proper artist statement, make cover letters, write up our résumé.. all the practical things i'd never know how to do otherwise. hahah. it's perfect because it's for BFA students, who don't benefit much from the typical business major-esque résumé writing workshops they have at school. it's tailored to suit our needs & specific skills.

my other classes are all going relatively well. there are only four other people in my korean class, so it's very personal & much less threatening/embarrassing. chinese is going well too, but we haven't really gotten into anything difficult. i love learning to write the characters-- they're made up of pictures that actually make sense & look like the objects they represent. i was fascinated when professor cong showed up some of them in chinese ink painting class a few semesters ago, & i can see myself really getting into it.

my textiles class is fun, but i'm really itching to dive into the more complicated stuff. we've been making/printing handmade stamps on fabric, which is fun... but i really want to do other things now. i've got tons of ideas for that class.

my internship is going very well, as it did last semester. it's like a break from all of the normal work i have to do because it's so different. i like it. the reasons behind why siona works on the subjects she does are really interesting. she's such a cool person.

the only bummer this semester is my ceramics class, i guess. it's a shame. some semesters i'm super prolific in ceramics but not so much in painting, & sometimes it's the opposite. i think that's going to be the case this semester. the class is WAY too crowded/loud, so i can't even work or think comfortably. it's just a totally different dynamic than it was last semester. i don't know. at least painting is going well, haha.

start

2012-01-23T01:17:00.002-05:00

first artistic venture of the semester! my painting professor suggested we paint on cardboard for our first project, which could be anything we wanted as far as the subject matter goes (& it didn't really even have to be on cardboard.. he said to only do it if we wanted to do so). his idea was to do a painting on something really cheap & disposable so we wouldn't get attached to our work.. buuuut i don't think it's working, haha. i'm pretty pleased with how this is coming out. i'll post more head-on photos so it doesn't look as skewed later on down the road.

unfortunately, i'm working on my kitchen floor. my ~studio is still being used as storage, & the floor in there isn't even visible. oi. i've got some work ahead of me.

i've been painting to this song all night. i'm not one for rap, but epik high is always one of the few exceptions.

must try

2012-01-17T02:05:00.000-05:00

i've been creeping through riusuke fukahori's work for a little while now, & i'm obsessed. i've got some resin lying around waiting to be mixed up.. maybe i'll try something like this. it's really inspiring! plus, it's no secret that i love painting fish..

source

progress

2012-01-13T03:13:00.001-05:00

i finally got the last grade i've been waiting on! i honestly had a tough time last semester, so i'm pleased as punch with this. it's irritating that my gpa is actually a 3.969, but it only shows on my transcripts. i think everything is updated the following semester, so 3.968 might be what my gpa was after my summer classes rather than my fall classes. but REGARDLESS. it's good & i'm proud. the best thing, though, is seeing how proud my parents are when they see my grades. they're one of the reasons i try so hard. doing well in whatever i go out for is the least i can do for them.

the new semester starts in less than a week, & i have a feeling it's going to be even more difficult than the last one. here's a look at my schedule:

monday:

11-1:30pm - textiles & design

2-4:30pm - senior seminar

tuesday:

9:30-10:45am - basic chinese I

11-12:15pm - intermediate korean II

2-4:30pm - ceramics studio

wednesday:

11-1:30pm - textiles & design

2-4:30pm - senior seminar

5:30-10:30pm - painting studio

thursday:

9:30-10:45am - basic chinese I

11-12:15pm - intermediate korean II

2-4:30pm - ceramics studio

**my internship times have yet to be decided, as i have to work out a schedule that works for both me & siona this semester. i have fridays off again, so i'll probably work in her studio then. i'll also end up going on one or two of the days that i get out at 4:30, but that might end up being worked out on a week-to-week basis depending on both of our schedules.

i'd like to get an extra job this semester because i need the money & my weekend job is slow in the winter/spring, but i don't think it's possible. i've already got way too much on my plate. maybe i can sell some of the stuff i've been making, or something. whatever works.

inspiration in strange places

2012-01-12T03:19:00.000-05:00

marilyn manson is someone i've always respected as an artist. even if his stuff isn't really your thing, i think it's kind of difficult to deny him as a visual/performance artist.

down to the wire

2012-01-10T01:26:00.000-05:00

i've had to create a makeshift "studio" in my living room because everyone has been piling their junk in my designated workroom at home. it's really frustrating, but i've got work to do.

i've got three (very) small commissions to do, & i'm hoping to finish one of them tonight. i'm in serious need of the cash, and i will have no time at all once the semester starts next week. i've also got quite a pile of work to tackle for my internship & some personal work to take care of as well.

i visited the scholarship office at school the other day, hoping someone could point me in the right direction for getting another scholarship for next year. this is my fourth year at william paterson, & if i didn't have two majors & a minor i'd be graduating. this has put me in quite a tight spot, because my scholarship only lasts four years & is non-extendable. however, while i was there, they suggested i write a letter to the head of the scholarship office & ask that they review my case. apparently, they do extend scholarships like mine, but it is EXTREMELY rare. i'm hoping with my 3.968 GPA & involvement on campus i might be able to get something. anything. i need it. i don't know what's going to happen otherwise.

keep your fingers crossed, my friends.

anyway, i should hopefully be posting more over the next few weeks as the semester picks up & i throw myself back into my work.

take me back

2012-01-02T01:13:00.000-05:00

fall 2011 semester

2012-01-02T00:36:00.002-05:00

sadly, the colors in these photos are very.. off. the wall the paintings are against is stark white in real life, for your reference.

if you remember my favorite photo from the china post, i painted it in a 3D painting this past semester.

the hand detail i posted a while back belongs to this painting. i'm disappointed in how flat/distorted this painting looks in photos.

detail of another painting. these colors KILL me. the face is very blue & the gessoed background is stark white with slight washes of a pinky/red color in real life.

2012

2012-01-01T03:47:00.003-05:00

happy new year, everyone. i hope 2012 is a success for you.

do what it takes 'til it takes everything you are.

rats

2011-12-30T02:23:00.001-05:00

one of my assignments in ceramics this semester was to make multiples of something without a mold. i had a thing for rats this semester, apparently. i added them into a few paintings as well, haha. sorry for the phone photos!

china

2011-12-29T01:45:00.001-05:00

for a few weeks in this past may/june, i was EXTREMELY fortunate & travelled to china with several other students from school. for someone like me who had never even been on a plane before, it was quite an experience. it left me hungry for more traveling opportunities, & i am extremely anxious to go back to china.

we visited a few art universities in china & i was so impressed. the caliber of their work & even just their work ethic was both inspiring & embarrassing because it made me realize how much harder i should be working. i think that's where i need to be. my mom has this idea engrained in her head that i should go to graduate school in china, & i have to admit daydreaming about it as well. being there put everything in perspective for me.

ideally, i'd like to be able to go to a university in korea since i've been learning korean for nearly two years & it's my minor, buuuut i'm taking chinese next semester just in case. not that any of this is even realistic, hahah. i realize that. i'd really like it to be a reality, though. i've secretly been saving up my money & (slowly) building up my portfolio. the work that i've been doing REALLY needs to be kicked up about 1000 notches if i have any hope of being accepted.

first day in beijing! i learned i didn't travel well. i was extremely sick & stranded on that tiny boat..

i look a little jetlagged... haha. second day in beijing. i loooooved CAFA. my dream school!

798 gallery district in beijing. i'd KILL to go back there.

i can say i've actually been on the great wall of china. how cool?

hanging monasteries! not-so-fun fact: i got food poisoning shortly after leaving this place. great.

i'm grateful for having been able to visit the chinese countryside. not many foreigners leave cities like beijing.

the beautiful historical city of pingyao

local student sculpting

my absolute favorite photo taken in china

my professor slipped the guy 10 yuan so everyone could take photos of me on the donkey. thanks, professor cong!

technique

2011-12-28T16:32:00.004-05:00

a classmate introduced me to horse hair raku & i simply MUST try it. the results are beautiful! i've read you can use things other than hair, like feathers & a few other things.

source

dreams of joy

2011-12-28T02:33:00.001-05:00

“Seeing something once is better than hearing about it a hundred times. Doing something once is better than seeing it a hundred times.”

-Lisa See, Dreams of Joy

nature is the best artist

2011-12-28T01:27:00.001-05:00

i took this photo after one of my massive pet koi died. so beautiful.

i was looking through some old pictures & i came upon this.. i remember crying tears of frustration while spending many hours trying to make it, haha. i still have it! it sits on top of the fish tank i keep my frogs in.

dollar bill koi

details

2011-12-27T03:23:00.002-05:00

regretfully, i tend not to photograph my work.. especially when it comes to my paintings. i feel like i have quite a bit of trouble capturing and transferring the feeling/overall aesthetic value of my paintings in photos. anyway, here's a washed out/camera phone quality detail of a painting i did recently. i work in acrylics, as my patience (or lack thereof) doesn't mix well with oil.

hand detail - acrylic

false bones

2011-12-27T03:01:00.002-05:00

i completed this project a semester ago, sometime in april or may. all of the "bones" you see are ceramic, & my sculptural work is almost always this.. organic. there is a unique beauty in death, & i don't think there is anything quite as fascinating as what's left behind when something dies. i promise i'm not trying to be "deep" when i say this, haha. anything along the lines of forensics has been a love of mine since i was very young & it translates in my work. i am not interested in a deeper meaning, or an "i am an ~artist" statement when i make these things. i make them simply as i see them because that's where the beauty lies. lucky for you (perhaps) that my professor required work to be photographed that semester... as i don't even know where this piece ended up, haha.

deer - (acrylic) painted ceramic

sound

2011-12-27T02:26:00.002-05:00

hello again

2011-12-27T02:13:00.001-05:00

after several failed attempts at blogging, let's hope this one sticks. my name is kali, and i'm not going to waste a perfectly good post introducing myself. you will hopefully learn more about me gradually through future posts rather than half-assed and all at once now, hahah