Hand Series
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Hand is one of the most indispensable and visible parts of our body. My hands, compared to those of others, have numerous, conspicuous wrinkles, which I consider one of more distinct characteristics of my body. Depending on how I make hand gestures, my wrinkles form many, unique patterns. Also, no two people in the universe have the exact same hand shape and palm creases; such variations within self and among others inspired me to explore and create art work that represents diverse personalities of hands and their motion.
Past Art Work Inspired by Hands
Reference images for Hand Series
Two questions that I frequently heard during this project was in regards to the type of reference I used to create the series and source of inspiration. My response was pretty simple:
This "Hand Series" was my first official abstract art piece I crafted during junior year at Pratt Institute. In the first lecture, I had a 30 minute conversation with my professor during which I presented my project plan for next two semesters. During that time, I had no tangible project idea on my mind. When I came back to my room, I began to paint my hands on a white canvas unconsciously. Although It was just a way for me to doodle and refocus, but as I continued drawing, the various shapes that I was able to form with my hands and the interesting appearances of their wrinkles, bone structure and intricate hand muscles led me to continue painting. That very moment marked my very beginning of exploring and diving into the world of abstract painting. The doodling exercise turned into the full two-semester long project, and the final outputs were highly praised by professors across the painting department and made to one of the in-school exhibitions. Overall, the project allowed me to build core abstract painting techniques, which set the foundation for my subsequent art works and concentrate on the lines, colors, and shapes.
Sketches
Critique Feedbacks
"Each of your hand painting speaks a unique voice with different vocabularies."
- Dennis Masback, Professor of Painting at Pratt Institute
"Beautiful visual space, entrancing relationship between space and shapes in small pieces seems off, but overall delightful."
- Catherine Redmond, Professor of Painting at Pratt Institute
"I like the paintings and their light. The colors in the paintings play push & pull, which create depth."
- Nancy Grimes, Professor of Painting at Pratt Institute
Duration: 8 months (August 2015 - May 2016)
Project Name: Hand Series
Materials: Acrylic on Canvas