“A Moment” Totems

I used to have objects that I can hold and look at, when I’m in the chaos or darkness, to remind me what is real.  The object provides me a moment, just one moment, for something, anything.  A moment of thankfulness for the things I have.  A moment to realize maybe things aren’t so bad.  A moment to reflect.  A moment to make a different choice.  A moment to change a mindset.  Sometime it only takes a moment.  And that moment can be a good thing.  I want to provide that moment through my art.

This project is something that has been on my mind for many years but I never really know how to present it.  I didn’t want the art to just be on the wall.  I wanted it to be something a person can hold onto, to keep with them for those times when the art can provide that one meaningful moment, a “totem” of sort.

Each totem contains a small print of the original artwork, is matted with either a solid color circular mat or a one of a kind hand painted mat.  Each print with mats and circular backing is sealed.  I’m still working out the final seal medium.  I’m considering sealing the entire totem in resin.  The totem is meant to be touched and handled as well as viewed.

Sometimes, it just takes a moment …

https://youtu.be/8Rb--sx6opk

Tough Times

This is very hard for me. I’m usually a very private person and I’m used to keeping my thoughts and feelings to myself. I’m not particularly very vocal about world events or political point of views. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel strongly about what’s going on in the past few months, from pandemic to shutdown to protests to riots to curfews. I feel so sadden by what’s going on but I don’t know what I can do about it, to help. We artists are like visual reporters. Some of us can express current events in dramatic beautiful imageries that encapsulate the state of affairs of all our communities in the past and more importantly right now. That’s much harder for me. I like expressions in terms of inner emotions, forces and turmoils. This is something I have been working toward for the past few years, and now it seems relevant even more so than in past years. This angst, frustration, feeling trapped, caged and cannot breathe that a lot of people have been feeling are coming out in roves. I’m not very good in the political realm, but I do want to help in the emotional realm. Art for me is expressed as an emotional rollercoasters of chaos and calm, darkness and light, a breath in and a breath out. I especially work very slow and I cannot do anything fast. I think most of the time by the time I get something going, the moment has passed.  I don’t want to let that stop me from capturing how I feel about current events right now. I’m just going to take a moment to gather myself and find my center. I hope to come back soon with something I can contribute to help calm the chaos. Stay safe.