Hello lovely anyone who may be reading this, wishing you a healthy and happy new year of the rabbit, Wishes, wishes, wishes. Isn’t this a good time for a reunion, I’ve missed writing dearly but you know how it is when things get hectic and depressing in the brain, it becomes very difficult to avoid melodramatic details! I can’t keep up with the pace of reality television tweet blog instant diary time, why this is friendly butcher slow-on-the-uptake diary time, so I appreciate your patience. My mind of late has been too full of absorption squiggles (in an idea realm) and schlepping plans (in a practical realm), neither of which is going all that smoothly.
Feeling much like the woman with gun fun in the propaganda poster above but hopefully, aren’t we all. I have cherished my ambiguous love for this painting for a long time, and thought it was ripe time to share it with you.
So, I had real yummy dim sum in Scarborough. My heart is full when I get to be home with my fam for Chinese new years. I had never seen this in a restaurant before, there was a whole crew doing the lion dance, my favourite performance. Paper mache kid heads lure and flirt with the lion. The lion in turn flirts with the kids, bats eyes coyly, then seduces the lettuce and the lucky envelopes before devouring them. In 2011, this particular lion head was all new-age, decorated with plastic, neon paints and holographic fabric, so inspiring! I would love to have it as an outfit. The coordination, athleticism and grace of the sifu lion dancer made my heart melt as the room filled with the sound of drum and cymbals, it really feels akin to being at a good dance party. The whole thing is so sexy. Reminds me of the difference in aesthetics which Roland Barthes mentions early on in Mythologies where he writes of the difference between wrestling and judo (not to compartmentalize between east and west too much, but it’s true). Same with the fundamental difference between oil painting and Chinese brush painting is the strength in gesture: oil attempts to dominate with layers and layers, covering up everything, until all surface within the frame is conquered. Barbarism begins at home babes! Whereas brush painting covets the grace in the restraint of gesture: quick, slow, energy and vitality in one stroke, extravagant but never overdone. A swoop, a dash, practice practice, so fabulous! Same as that 40-pound lion head with the batty eyes, when done right is a grace and swiftness that makes me want to weep. Ever since I was a kid, I have always wanted to learn that big drum. Please contact me if you can teach me this? I’ll apply for a grant.
In other news, I have a new space to work at the adorable White House in Kensington market. Very excited about starting a new studio period, although I find it really cramped in there… wish me luck this new year. Oh by the way, I paint with oils largely.
So let’s talk about art baby, let’s talk about you and me, in 2011. Put up those machine guns!!!
