As promised, here is the time lapse video of me working on my latest painting, The Gravity of Venus. The painting took a total of 41 hours, and I documented each hour with one photograph.
Take a look here:
Check back soon for more upcoming news…!
Tags: Art, In the studio, video
I’ve been busy in the studio working on another pair of works, a drawing and then a painting. The newest work, titled The Gravity of Venus, is now up on my website, but here is a preview:
The Gravity of Venus (detail), oil on canvas
The Gravity of Venus (detail), oil on canvas
The Gravity of Venus (detail), oil on canvas
The Gravity of Venus (detail), oil on canvas
The Gravity of Venus (detail), oil on canvas
To see the full painting, as well as images of the drawing, please check out the New Works page of my website or click here. Anyone catch the Botticelli reference??
*****
I’ve really taken a liking to painting animals lately. Different animals have been popping up in my work from time to time and this time, after the success and great feedback that I received for my Self-Portrait as a Polar Bear painting, I decided to work in more animals into my newest work. I think it’s a good fit considering these new paintings are kind of steeped in mythologies.
Self-Portrait as a Polar Bear (detail)
Check back soon, as while I was painting The Gravity of Venus, I took photos every hour to document the painting process, and I’m in the middle of putting together a little video that will show how I work from beginning to end, hopefully giving a little insight into the amount of work that goes into one of these paintings!
My newest painting is now up on my website under the New Works gallery. Here is a close up detail shot of it:
Judith's Reprise (detail), oil on canvas, 18" x 24"
This is part of my new series of paintings, kind of an amalgamation of past different works, from the patterns to the background to the animal “mask” head. It is also a reprise of a painting that I made while I was in London during my Masters degree, in 2003. It was a large painting that I never finished and abandoned in London after moving back to Vancouver. That painting was a self-portrait and somewhat autobiographical version of Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes (c. 1612).
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes (c. 1612)
I saw this painting, in all of its gory splendor in Florence, Italy – an amazing trip where I saw so much beautiful and inspiring artwork and architecture. It was great to see the original after only viewing it in books and on the internet, which was my reference material for my painted version. The story of Judith and Holofernes intrigued me, and having studied art history throughout my undergraduate degree, I was interested in all the paintings that this allegory had inspired. Here’s a brief description from Wikipedia about the story of Judith:
In the story, Judith, a beautiful widow and chosen by God, uses her charms to enter the tent of Holofernes, an Assyrian general out to destroy Judith’s hometown. Overcome with drink, he passes out and is decapitated by Judith; his head is taken away in a basket (often depicted as carried by an elderly female servant). Artists have mainly chosen one of two possible scenes (with or without the servant): the decapitation, with Holofernes prone on the bed, or the heroine holding or carrying the head…
For many artists and scholars, Judith was a character whose sexualized femininity interestingly and sometimes contradictorily combined with her masculine aggression.
It’s actually amazing to see all the different depictions of Judith in art. From Michaelangelo’s version in the Sistine Chapel to Klimt’s two versions, it is interesting how one story can be painted in so many ways and styles. Here are a few of my favourites:
Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes (c. 1598-1599)
There’s something about the look on the young Judith’s face in contrast with the horror on Holofernes face that fascinates me.
Gustav Klimt, Judith I (1901)
Gustav Klimt, Judith II (1909)
When I was younger, I actually didn’t ever see Holofernes’ heads in these paintings. I was so taken by the beauty of the patterns and women that I never suspected that this Judith was the one and same Judith from the story.
So are you intrigued about Judith’s Reprise now? You can see my painting on my website here.
Tags: Art, art history, painting
Summer on Kitsilano Beach
It’s a little slow on the blog front these days as I spend most of my time putting together applications for exhibitions, grants, galleries and residencies when I’m not at the studio or trying to enjoy the sun, now that it is finally sunny in Vancouver!
I guess it is with most things, there are highs and lows, peaks and valleys: I was busy last year exhibiting in several shows and putting together a solo exhibition, so this year things are a bit slower. It’s allowed me some more time to think about where my work is going and what I’m going to do next. I have a few things in the works and I’ll post more news when things are more concrete. In the meantime, I can tell you there is always the Eastside Culture Crawl, which I am taking part in again this November.
So with putting together application forms, I often have to go through my old images and I thought it would be fun to do a little collection of close up images on here of the different patterns I’ve painted. I think my love for patterns first began when I was a teenager rummaging through my grandmother’s attic and found some old clothes from the 60s and 70s that had these amazing patterns and colourful stripes. I still remember my favourite shirt that had these really cool graphic birds in bold colours. From that moment on, I was hooked on patterns! It was only a matter of time before they would sneak their way into my work. I’m almost surprised it took so long!
from Chez moi, July 2001 - "Am I only..." (2005)
from The Return Home (2007)
from Mom & Dad 2 (2008)
from Wish you were here! Family 2 (2008)
from Coda: Self-portrait in the studio (2009)
from Judith's Reprise (2010)
The last image here is from my newest painting, Judith’s Reprise. I’ll post pictures of the finished painting soon, but in the meantime, you can see the pencil version on my website here.
I have just finished updating and rearranging my website, and I have also added pictures of the new painting and drawing that I’ve been working on this past month.
Here are the previews below:
Mash Up Girl 2 - detail
Judith's Reprise - detail
Judith's Reprise - detail
Judith's Reprise - detail
To see the work in full, please visit my website www.roselinahung.com
I’m looking forward to exploring this drawing in a new painting. This drawing was both prepatory and also a finished piece on its own. I used to draw and sketch a lot with pencils, ink and oil pastels but since I started oil painting, I have been drifting away from doing finished drawings. I sometimes forget the importance of drawing, so I’m hoping to do some more sketches. I’ve also newly added a Sketchbook & Drawings section to my website for displaying this side of my practice which is usually hidden away in my sketchbooks.
Tags: Art, drawing, painting, sketch, sneak peek, study, website
Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog, but I’ve been busy in the studio working on two different pieces…one is a large painting and the other is a drawing. More will be posted in the upcoming days as I update my website.
Bright colours!
In the meantime, here is a sneak peek of the drawing…
Sneak Peek!
Tags: Art, drawing, In the studio, painting, sneak peek
New York photo diary continued…
MAY 12, 2010
Lights inside Grand Central Station
Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wandering in the Met
Who doesn't love a good pcychic?
***
MAY 13, 2010
At the Chelsea Markets
***
MAY 15, 2010
Looking for galleries in Chelsea
A shy sun
***
MAY 16, 2010
Walking down Broadway in Soho
A graffiti mural by Shepard Fairey in Soho
Passing by Silvercup Studios on the way to JFK
Leaving New York City
***
Goodbye, New York! See you next time!
Tags: new york, photo diary
One of the great things about visiting New York is that it’s the perfect place to meet up with friends from different places. While I was there, I was able to meet up with a few friends that lived in New York whom I met while I was living in London, a friend from Virginia who I met in Taiwan about 10 years ago, and my friend Adam Bridgland, who flew over with Jealous Gallery from London to help support Charming Baker’s NY solo show.
Adam Bridgland is a good friend from London who is also an artist. I was actually able to see his work for the first time in the flesh at the Affordable Art Fair, where he was showing with TAG Fine Arts. I timed my trip so that I could catch the last day of the AAF, see Adam’s work and visit an art fair with many younger galleries from around the world (although in my opinion, the ones with the best work were from London and Brooklyn).
Image courtesy of AffordableArtFair.com
The AAF was very busy, and I don’t know if it was because it was the last day or if it is always this busy, but a lot of sales were being made and people were walking away with their newest prized possessions. It was very exciting to see, and I hope it means that the art market is picking up again. I wish there was an art fair in Vancouver, but I think the closest one there is is in Toronto, and I’m not sure how well attended that is.
Adam’s framed screen prints definitely stood out from the crowd with their bold graphic style and text, and TAG Fine Arts was telling me about the pieces that were inspired by Adam and his wife Lucy Gough’s (another brilliant artist!) trip to Vancouver a couple of years back.
So Adam was in New York with a gallery that he works with, Jealous Gallery, which is also a print studio. They were supporting the artist Charming Baker, who was having his first solo show in New York, and it was a very busy affair and also a very successful opening night…he sold all of his paintings before the show even opened! It was definitely a good party, with a gallery space over two floors, an open rooftop deck, free Prosecco, mini cupcakes, a DJ and a small print studio set up by the Jealous Gallery allowing guests to pull their own prints.
Earlier in the evening...
Charming Baker's prints with Jealous Gallery
DJ on the main floor of the gallery
Cupcakes!
The popular makeshift print station
A guest getting creative...
Tags: Adam Bridgland, Affordable Art Fair, Art, Charming Baker, Exhibitions, Jealous Gallery, new york, TAG Fine Arts
I can’t believe it has almost been a month since my last post! I’ve been busy with planning a trip, taking a trip and now organizing after the trip, the blog kind of took a back seat for a bit. Last week, I was in to New York to see art, visit friends and look for gallery representation. I’m doing the follow up at the moment and am hoping that something exciting will come from this trip. All in all, it was great…lots of sightseeing and there is just SO much art in New York, it kind of makes me miss living in a big city because of all the great museums, galleries and shows that don’t always make it to Vancouver. That being said, I definitely was happy to come home to Vancouver, to sunny skies and sandy beaches and space…lots of space (our hotel rooms were tiny)!
There were a few highlights to my trip that I will take time to write more about in upcoming posts, but in the meantime, here are some photos!
MAY 8, 2010
It's been so long since I flew from the Int'l Terminal (we flew Cathay Pacific to JFK, it's the way to go!) that I didn't know there was a huge aquarium in the middle of the terminal!
Leaving YVR
***
MAY 9, 2010
Traffic jam NYC style
"I see you, Fake Elmo"
Empire State Building at night
***
MAY 10, 2010
Water towers everywhere
Trump Tower's terrace garden top view
A very skinny escalator at Rockefeller Center
***
MAY 11, 2010
City view from Top of the Rock
***
Tomorrow I’ll post about The Affordable Art Fair, Charming Baker and Jealous Gallery…and then more photos to cap off the week in New York.
Tags: new york, photo diary
So I’ve finally been able to photograph my new painting and am very excited to share with you my new work…I feel there is progression from my previous works from my exhibition The Way We Were. It is still similar to my past work but has started to move in a slightly different direction, perhaps less personal (I’m not sure yet). I’m still working on ideas, so this is actually kind of a test piece for me to try out my new ideas, as sometimes no matter how hard I try to picture what direction I’d like my paintings to move in, it’s not really the same until I actually work on a painting that all the pieces kind of fall into place. It’s always the final step in my own understanding of my work.
So here it is…and I’ve already started working on a new piece too!
Mash Up Girl 1, Oil on masonite, 60 x 76 cm (24 x 30 in), 2010
Now I do have to say that this post is only up temporarily for a couple of days, as I am entering the Royal Bank of Canada’s Painting Competition with this piece (fingers crossed, as I’ve entered a few years in a row now with no luck yet, but who knows…!), and one of their requirements is that I remove the painting from my website while they are in the judging process. It will eventually be put back up online in a couple of months time. In the meantime, if you check back often, I’ll add some new images of the painting I’m currently working on. I moved back to working larger, at least in comparison to how small my miniatures are, so the new painting is 90 x 120 cm (36 x 48 in) and so far so good.
Blank canvas - in the studio, April 22, 2010
Tags: Art, In the studio, mash up, paint-by-numbers, painting, pin up, work-in-progress