Media, Events, Experiments
Fine Art
Circuit Board Etching
Jul 2nd
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Revisiting an old project created in 2003…
Etching circuit boards as a form of creative expression? I made a series of resists by combining 19th century botanical illustrations scanned from antique hardcovers with circuit-like shapes created in Photoshop. The images were used as light resists in the creation of a photoresist, which was in turn used as an etching resist. The first part of the process is similar to traditional photography, performed in a dark room with developer and stop bath chemicals.
The series, titled ‘Circuitree’ was displayed at the Nickle Gallery in Calgary, Canada.
The relationships between the dualities of nature and technology; science and art; creative processes and analytical processes were investigated.
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Digital Drawings etched on circuit board.
Average size 6” x 6”, series of 8
2003
I would like to once again use this technique as a creative process, with a more technological final work in mind. I would like to see the circuits actually able to perform a task beyond a being a decorative and contemplative form.
Recycled Painting Project
Jul 2nd
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An ongoing project using waste cardboard from boxes and packaging as a painting surface to renew the refuse materials’ perceived value, and to raise awareness to the amount of waste which is created by western lifestyles. The pieces shown are two collared shirt packing boards and a piece of the packaging for a home storage unit, all of which would normally be disposed of and promptly forgotten. Not shown are cereal boxes, a cookie box and the stiffening board at the bottom of a paper pad.
The process of creation also plays a key role in the final rendering of the pieces. As gestural and random layers of paint are built up on top of each other, a composition emerges. Only after the first few painting sessions do I know the outcome of the painting. The decorative pseudo-ornamentals are references to Mucha’s illustration style.
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Mixed media on card stock paper and cardboard.
Varying Sizes – mostly small
2007- Present
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Oil Siren: we need you, we love you.
Jun 22nd
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I developed an oil monster character illustration over the past week. The initial concept came from what has been happening recently in the Gulf of Mexico. Initially, the intent was to create a dark and evil menace which was killing everything in its path, except the process of drawing, digitization and coloring left the character decidedly ‘beautiful’. Years of being inspired by Mucha must have left a mark on my style. Instead of changing the drawing, I decided to amend the concept to suggest that our unquenchable addiction to oil turns the oil monster into a thing of beauty. It is an Oil Siren. We need her, we love her, we cannot stop burning her or forming her into plastics. We are powerless to her siren calls. The Oil Siren is so entrenched in our society that we cannot break our addiction and will destroy ourselves in the process. She could be a contemporary version of the legendary siren myths from antiquity.
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Pixel Paintings
Jun 5th
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I just found a couple digital images of paintings I did back in my university days.
A discussion of technologically mediated communication, the paintings depict digital communication systems overlayed on pixelated imagery of found webcam screenshots. The overlay style, painted in a definitely analog method, reference the digital layer opacity workflow found in applications such as Photoshop.
It cannot be denied that communication methods have changed as a result of technology. Just over a century ago, communication across oceans took months, and now, real time HD video can stream. Speaking over the phone is different from speaking through connected computers. Video chat and web cam communication has changed our conceptual size of the real world, bringing people closer together, yet there is an increased psychological distance between humans emerging related to digital mediation. Do the benefits outweigh the detriments? Only time will tell.
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Sakura and Kimono
May 31st
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A quick short film made from stock footage I shot in Tokyo in the spring of 2010. Colour graded and vfx added in May 2010. Cliche or Archetypical? You be the judge.
It is an interesting cultural aside to mention that the lady in the video has only worn a kimono twice in her life. This is a common phenomenon in Japan: the first time a young lady usually wears a kimono is for ‘Coming of Age’ day, when she is 20, and the second time is frequently her wedding or university graduation.
Older ladies find more occasions to wear a kimono, including tea ceremony and other traditional cultural affairs. Does this mean that the cultural heritage of Japan is in decline, and that young people are turning more towards an international style? Hardly so: I remember seeing photographs of a temple’s ladies’ club spanning through several decades, and the members were consistently over 50. Perhaps the keen interest in traditions only grows with maturity over the years.
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Tokyo Women’s Bunka University Fashion Show
Jul 7th
Hfour produced the video for the annual Tokyo Women’s Cultural University fashion show which was held on June 6th 2009 on the Kokubunji campus. The full edit is just over an hour long and is unavailable for public release. This version is approximately twenty minutes shorter but still contains the show in its entirety.
The hidden nature of beauty.
Sep 3rd
A series 8 of paintings on 61x61cm plywood boards was completed for a group exhibition. The subject matter is magazine models, painted in oil on untreated hardwood ply and then sealed. Their message raises questions about beauty and nature. Natural beauty is found everywhere, it is possible to see in many pristine locations which haven’t been adjusted by humans. Natural beauty is also found in human faces: models are selected by their looks, because it is their appearance that is attractive to viewers which helps sell products. However, their appearance is augmented with make-up and computers to improve the overall appeal and beauty. The same augmentative activities are performed with natural materials and objects. The natural beauty of wood grain does not appear without the help of humans and tools. The plywood surfaces of the paintings are a form of ‘constructed nature’: they are perceived to be natural, but do not appear in nature. Other examples include the Nautilus shell (the spiral aesthetic is invisible until the shell is cut), trans-axially cut fruit and polished stones.
Wet Paint Redux
Aug 28th
Hfour did a live painting show at Ever on the 29th of May 2008. Musical accompaniment by Esie and a traditional flute player.
Here is the write-up from the flyer:
Hfour explores the transience and ephemerality of life using paint as a metaphor. By intentionally repurposing traditional artists’ materials, he expresses a paradigm shift which suggests the awareness of the impermanent nature of contemporary society (disposable). Hfour channels primal expressions incorporated with reactive gestures to perform a painting without termination.
A collaborative performance with Flyflyfly reinforces the convergence of technology and human instinct; the postmodern city and the condition of society.
Two pieces were performed, both canvases were destroyed after the show.
Also included are photographs from the first live painting show performed in 2002 in Canada.
Exivision
Aug 23rd
A friend of mine emailed me to express his wish to attend my Art show and misspelled the word exhibition as exivision. I was impressed with his new word and named the show after it. The longer title was “Thunder Dragons and Flying Tigers: Visions of Bhutan.
Exivision toured through three exhibition spaces, two in Tokyo (2006 and 2007) and one in Kyoto (2007).