29 Oct 2013 clay paintings

Here is a funny joke- '' Caution -Clearning in progress'', however the cleaner suddenly showed up and talked to me, he said'' it doesn't matter about messy floor, I can have more jobs to do''


Throughout this process, I was thinking a lot about Taiwanese aboriginal women's(Amis) clay and hands. It reminded me of my PhD research trip, the time when I was with the aboriginal helping them to  dig the clay at Fakong in Taiwan on May 2013. This tribe are living in the rural area of the east part in Taiwan. They are farmers and their husbands are fishers. They rely on their hand and foot to survive. The material world for them seems too much. '' Cash'' is quite a luxury object. Everything is made by their  physical actions.

For this reason in this art piece I decided to use Terracotta clay to represent them. I prepared three A1 size tracing papers.

See my process :
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMWlZP2BqPY&feature=youtu.be   (4:06)
Thank you  Asprey Charlotte for helping me film this process.

The music:
Taiwanese folksong :Spring Wind  (望春風 Bāng chhun-hong)
See different type of craving for the Spring Wind(Taiwanese Folk Song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGflcdsCDTA



See some pictures of the result
I not too worry about the result,  I more interested in the process.

 The water with the clay

The hole of the space

Continue......

1 Nov 2013 Clay paintings

Material : Royal Porcelain + Terracotta

See my process: (4:37)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clZ1MPcWRG4&feature=youtu.be

Thank you  Asprey Charlotte for helping me film this process.

This time, I was thinking about the sounds of the clay. I tried to match my movement to the music.
It was quiet a challenge because we prepared the music just before we started filming. Charlotte helped me to type '' Chinese music'' on YouTube on her iPad. We decided this music together. The music was suitable for my mind on the 1st Nov 2013.

I used Chinese writing as a process to express my inner thoughts in clay.
I wanted my writing to become fluid within the water and the clay.
I used two types of clays to represent different powers in my life - East and Western society.
When I lived in Asia, I imagined '' we have a pretty traditional life style'' but when I studied in the UK I felt this was not case. Sometimes, I felt this society is pretty conservative in Western, but sometimes is quite cutting edge.

I am always living in two worlds. My life is different with people no matter  if I am in Taiwan or the UK.Sometimes I hate difference because of my skin and my nationality, but what can I do in the real world. I hide myself in a surreal space - Art. Can I live in this world forever ? I don't know.

I feel I am not dealing with cross cultural issues because '' cross culture'' for me sometimes means to find out a different society and to compare. Can I find out some sense that is similar to each other.



This relates closely to politics of emotion.

Continue......

Autumnal scenery

Bonfire night (5 Nov 2013)