Marcus Aurelius – Fractured Bust

Here’s a new painting of mine. It’s a bust of Marcus Aurelius. Since his book ‘Meditations’ has had such a profound influence on me, I felt compelled to create a visual reminder of his imagery to hang in my apartment. His gaze embodies what I believe to be the essence of stoicism, which is an unflinching approach to all external events. Things are what they are, and the only thing we can control is our interpretation of events.

I chose to paint a camouflage background for two reasons. Primarily, it symbolizes Marcus Aurelius’ military background and resonates with the concept of Roman stoicism (which is a practical application of the philosophy akin to a defensive military tactic). Secondarily, I am huge fan of Andy Warhol. He had a camouflage collection which was a series or prints that took the standard pattern and infused them with his signature color palette.

Marcus Aurelius will continue to be an influence in my artwork, so I look forward to see what kooky idea I come up with next.

Fashion Ad Collage

Similar to my previous post, I constructed another collage using leftover magazines. For this project, I chose to use iconic fashion brands such as Chanel, Versace, Hermes, etc. However, instead of keeping the advertisements intact (which would benefit the fashion houses by adding extra consumer exposure), I chose to obscure the brands and logos. You can still make out which some of these brands are, so it is a tongue-in-cheek approach.

As an avid street and graffiti art aficionado, I am consumed by individuals who repurpose and/or alter their existing environments. Some may consider this an eyesore. Others (like myself) view it as an unconventional beautification process.That’s the inspiration for this piece.

I took existing images and reused them to create a fresh new abstraction. My preservation of some identifiable images is an homage to process involved in creating this piece. Symbolically, it’s a nostalgic nod to the past and a hopeful aspiration toward the future.

I have created several of these and will be posting subsequent finished products.

Feist Composite

Since starting this blog, I’ve learned to create for the sake of creating. If you wait around for inspiration to hit, you may end up waiting longer than expected for your muse to arrive. On the other hand, if you just create, then you’ll be way more productive and gain practice/experience in your craft. Sure, you might not be 100% in love with all the pieces you develop, but at least you’ll have an extensive catalog of work from which to choose a favorite piece.

Here, I just used a photo of singer-songwriter Feist and simply decorated it for no apparent reason. Create!

Black Heart

Whenever I get the sense that something is particularly overwhelming, instead of regression I seek the will to confront and resolve. What comes to mind is a black heart. Not in the sense of being callous, detached, or malicious, instead, I see it as a proactive stance against agitation (human and non-human) under the premise that one’s conviction will not waiver to fleeting or irrational emotions. That’s the gist of this illustration.

Grapes

Since getting back into designing/drawing/painting, I’ve noticed that I’m much more inspired by everyday life than I used to be. Daily objects become ideas for future projects.

I watched a documentary last night on Jean-Michel Basquiat (Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child). When asked what his studio was like in terms of work-space, he mentioned always being surrounded by magazines, records, and other objects from which he drew inspiration from. I totally understand this behavior. I was on the train from work reading this week’s New York magazine and came across a picture of grapes. I thought this would look great with a stylized approach. And above you see the result. 

“Stop and smell the roses” is such a sad notion to be absorbed by the list of cliches, since it is marvelously true and not trite. If you take a closer look at what seems mundane due to routine/jadedness/familiarity, you find that there’s a little beauty in everything.

D.I.Y. Table

I decided to make my own table this weekend. I love IKEA, but what sucks about it is that it’s mass produced, so the chances of someone else owning the same product as you is highly likely. And no, this isn’t some anti-mainstream gripe of mine, I just believe in individuality across clothes, furniture, taste in art, etc.

For around $60, I built this table (but had to go to IKEA anyway for the legs, lol). I love it. If you want to know exactly how I built it and what I used, just let me know, but the photos are pretty self-explanatory (minus the drill, which isn’t photographed). I am not a handyman whatsoever, so if I can figure it out I’m sure you can. God bless the internet.