Composition
This Composition Series was developed for 1.5 year and was my second, major project that continued exploring the world of abstract painting. Compared to the first project, this composition series used larger canvases and gel medium mixtures. Besides the focus on composition, colors and textures were co-emphasized to develop illusionistic atmosphere. The intent of this series was that through people staring at my paintings, they continuously discover new meanings or picture different images in their head; I described their activity as "cloud watching".
"What does it look like to you?"
Flamingo
48"x54"
11/13/2016
Acrylic on canvas
"What does it look like to you?" was the question that I frequently asked to the viewers before they asked me what I had painted. Each piece has its own story and image created by the viewers. This specific painting, unlike my other works, was not untitled: "Flamingo". I normally don't give a title to my painting because I like to give viewers an opportunity to interpret the image on their own. However, despite the existence of title for this particular piece, some people associated the image more with a landscape rather than a flamingo.
Flamingo
Landscape
“I enjoy the moment when I become connected with my viewers through my art work and hear what they see from it"
48"x48", Acrylic on Canvas
24"x36", Acrylic on Canvas
48"x48", Acrylic on Canvas
12"x12", Acrylic on Canvas
12"x12", Acrylic on Canvas
12"x12", Acrylic on Canvas
12"x12", Acrylic on Canvas
9"x12", Acrylic on Canvas
24"x36", Mixed Media
9"x12", Acrylic on Canvas
48"x60", Acrylic on Canvas
12"x20", Mixed Media
16"x24", Mixed Media
48"x60", Acrylic on Canvas
Composition series above consists of 12 different pieces of abstract paintings. The painting's color scheme and sizes are varied, but as a whole, they have unity in grand theme of abstraction and communicate with each other in an inexplicable way.
Art Inspiration
Three artists above have the major influence for my paintings. great references and influences. Their beautiful work became my great inspiration and reference as I continued my journey on developing abstract art pieces. Their use of colors and sophisticated handling of composition in a limited rectangular space impresses me to this date. Avery's ability to illustrate abstract landscape image with simple colors and shapes motivates me to grow my skill in creating highly illusionistic abstract paintings.
Milton Avery
(American Painter)
March 7, 1885 ~ January 3, 1965
Influenced Art
Helen Frankenthaler
(American Painter)
December 12, 1928 ~ December 27, 2011
Influenced Art
Harmony Hammond
(American Artist)
February 8, 1944 ~
Influenced Art
Painting Process: Iterations through feedback
Many student painters usually spend half of their time on critique. Critique is a meeting where people gather and share their ideas and feelings about their art work with other artists. It is a critical component of a painting process because others could discover things, whether new ideas or flaws, that the artist himself/herself did not see in the first place. Therefore, soliciting feedback sessions and creating a feedback loop helped me improve my paintings throughout the project.
This particular art work took me about 4 months to complete. During the process, some people liked the colors, and others did not. As a result, I decided to spend another 2 months to refine the color mixtures so that the final version became more elegant and thought-provoking. In the previous version, one common feedback was that two complementary colors in the background made the painting look dull, thus I changed them with brighter colors.
This art piece was a controversial one during the critique. It was a 40 by 60 inch piece, and the blue square in the middle of canvas was taking over almost one-fifth of the canvas. Also, its color was ultramarine, which looked too bold to viewers. About half of people in the critique did not like the color or shape, while the rest loved it. It took me a while to weigh options, and I ended up reducing the size of the blue shape and applied yellow-green on top of it. As a result, significantly higher % of people in subsequent critiques liked the composition including those who originally preferred the blue square.
Exhibition History
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People's Choice Salon Show: Green Point Gallery, NY (February 2017)
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Shadow on Your Break: Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY (March 2017)
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Pi Exhibition: New York, NY (April 2017)
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Senior Thesis Show: Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY (April 2017)
Duration: 1.5 year (August 2015-May 2017)
Project Name: Composition Series
Materials: Acrylic on Canvas and gel mediums