First solo exhibition at 1078 gallery

It has been almost two months since I got back from my a year traveling. While I was away, I had to move to a new place, which I absolutely love. School started in late August and it was, I have to say, rather hard at the beginning. Regarless, I push myself to make work for this show and am pretty happy with the outcome.

Here is the gallery after installation. I had about 40 stuffed creatues, 80-90( I did not count exactly how many) heads in plastic boxes, a big drwaing, and framed small prints and drwaings. 

This is a shot from the other side of the gallery. 1078 gallery is located in dowtown Chico, a beautiful small town/ city in North of San Francisco. I showed some of old work of mine that were made from 2009 to 2011 to show the transition of my work. Some of my latest work, the Humanshop and Humanity Bites were shown as main pieces of the show.

This is a close up shot.

I have never installed my work in this way. It was challenging at the beginning but turned out to be super fun! 

I had Somebody made shelves for me, then I painted them with some polkadots.

Each creature has each shelf. The wall of the gallery is 65 feets so that it is extremly challenging to take photos as a whole. In the mean time,  I had fun taking some close up shots.

Many people came for the opening and I enjoyed talking to people who came. Unfortuntately, I was so busy taking puctures. There were some Korean students from California State University Chico who brought beatiful flowers. 

The day after the opening, I had a waterless lithography workshop at CSU Chico. Students made some amazing artwork at the workshop.

Come back to studio

Sometime of you who followed my blog know that I have traveled for a year. I started with Bilabo and Canary Island in Spain. I went to Venice, Florence, and Rome Italy after that. Then went to Macau to see my friend Jen and headed to  Hong Kong. Then, I was in a city of Gualan near Shenzhen in China for a month. I went to Cambodia after that. Then I went to India. I kind of stopped blogging when I went to China. I experienced so much in China, yet I was not able to access my blog. Then, I kind of got disinterested in updating what I was doing since it was so much to cover after a month.

After India, I got so sick. So, I stopped traveling and went to Korea to stay with my family for three months and half. It was another interesting journey for me. Now I am back to Reno, Nevada and get ready for another chapter of my life. Some things have been changed while I was traveling. One of the biggest change was that I moved while I was away!!!!! When I came back, I have a new life waiting for me, haha.

I will show you some of a new studio I am going to work on. Before I start, here is my baby ms. Lola Pumpkin Muffin. She was very happy to see me. I was afraid she might have forgotten about me but well, she is a way smarter than I thought, of course!

The nice thing about my new place is that I have so much space for my art. As long as I can live here, I am going to pump out my art. So, be ready for my new artwork showing on this blog! I also got many goo ideas while I was traveling. Now all I have to do is to give them a birth to this world. I turned the living room into my studio. Here is a shot of my studio wall.

 I was trying to take photos of my creatures that I started to make in India. I never got to take good photos of them. The studio was rather dark inside as it was raining. These guys will be shown at 1078 gallery in Chico, California from October 8 until November 1, 2014. Please keep checking my blog or website for more info!!!

I got some good shots of images but I decided to call a professional. So, I contacted Sebastian, my former student, who always take pictures of my work. So, now I have some good images of these guys for the exhibition. The title of the exhibition will be "Humanity Bites" and these guys will be the main work for the exhibition. I will also show my ceramic pieces and some of drawings and prints.

 I use fabrics that I got while I was traveling in india. Then, I started to have an idea about my creatures being a case of a cultural study. Ones that I made in India look like indian creatures. I used some of traditional fabrics for the creatures that I made in Korea. I feel that this project can go for ever like this. I can travel all over the world, collect fabrics and turn them into my own creature. It is like the planet we live in. I would make, however more peaceful and interacting than the reality. I don't like what is going on in the world right now. Humans that I create or recreate can be happy and peaceful at least the world they are in although it may not be the case in the real world.

 I have made about 30 of them so far. I am hopping to make as many as possible and eventually filled a whole space with these guys!!!

This is a shot of working in progress.

Okie, this is a teaser for another upcoming exhibition at SNAP in Edmonton, Canada in January in 2015. You can't really see the detail on this. That is why you have to keep checking my blog because I will upload more images of these guys as I progress!!!!

Stay in tuned for more. I will come back  with more images! Until then, ciao!!!

A new beginning at the end of something.

Sorry guys. It has been a while. I promised you to keep updating my blog  but I stopped doing that once I went to China because it was blocked.  Then, I got busy with my life and have not had a desire to come back and write. So, I briefly explain what happened after Italy. I went to Korea to get visas and then went to Macau, HongKong, and mainland China. After New Year's day, I went to Cambodia and India. I saw a lot of different things. Some were good and some were bad, but mostly interesting. Now, it is my last day in Korea and going back to US tomorrow. I have so many pictures and thoughts to share but would like to end with some of images of my art that I had made.

 This is showing in NYC right now. My inspiration from India!

Faces and faces

I am so surprised by some of new trends in Korean culture. About a century ago, the Korean government made a new law that people could have their hair cut if they wanted, which was illegal for centuries. Some people committed suicide to protest that they would never change or get rid of any part of their bodies that was given to them from their parents. A century later, Koreans are going completely opposite direction from how we used to be. When I visit Korea this time, I could not believe how plastic surgery was so popular. People can change anyway they want if they have money. You would not believe what kind of changes you can make. I find it very ironic.

I have so many pictures that I would like to share and much more works that I have made for the year of traveling. When I get back, I will try to post more, but for now, I am wrapping up this amazing journey I have had for a year with this post.  I am sad that this journey is getting over but also very excited for a new beginning. Who knows what is waiting around the corner of my life!