Purrsuit of Catness
February 1-27, 2013

Introduction

 In February, I hit a milestone. Officially, as of Feb. 28, 2013, I will have lived longer in Portland, Oregon than in any other places in the world combined. Portland was where I found community, experienced my adulthood, went through all the variations and challenges of life, and most importantly I lived a great human life.

This show also marks my return to fine arts after two years of hiatus, and my first solo show in three years.

The Purrsuit of Catness has several levels of meaning. First, it is my salute to the values that make Portland a great place, a unique blend of good old pioneer values of the American West and the modern Cascadian ethos shaped by the region's interaction with the nature, the biome, and different cultures. Second, it is the Cat as a sort of totem animal for me, embodying the freedom and happiness in simplicity. Third, it is my purrs and meows to all the kitties I love. All the cats depicted are real, existing cats of Portland.

I plan on holding a small reception with artist talk in lieu of a more elaborate opening, on Friday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. The art may be viewed any time M-F 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sat. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; and Sun. 9-11 a.m.

TaborSpace at Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church
5441 SE Belmont St (under the bell tower)
TriMet 15 (also 71 close by)
Wheelchair and mobility device accessibility via 55th Avenue door or main Belmont Street doors.

How did this show come into being:

In the early summer of 2012, I was approached by Maggie Maggio, the art programs director for TaborSpace, regarding having a show.  At the time, I was slowly emerging out of a two-year hiatus from art.  In 2011 I had no shows and made no art whatsoever, both due to my soul-searching (and wondered if something as "frivolous" as art was a waste of time when the world was experiencing -- an attempt at -- global revolution), and because of the time and energy required for my post-graduate studies.  By the summer of 2012 I was busy with the Occupy movement, of which I had become a very active part since the day one.  I did not quite think of the show until January of 2013, however, except for the cat theme, which was on my mind since last summer.

The creative process

The cats are all real.  I drew out of my small cell phone photos that I accumulated over the course of past two years.  Pencil drawing is first made, and then coloured with both regular watercolour paint and "glitter" watercolour, and then I inked the drawing (in some pieces the order was reversed, only to find that the ink bleeding into watercolour).  I attempted to tell certain set of narratives (or more precisely, an inspiration for stories that would inevitably arise in the minds of the audience) in each of these illustrations.  Like religious icons, they are embedded with various symbolism inside intricate details, that would invite all who see to contemplate on the symbols. This distinctive artistic style has developed over the course of about six years and influenced largely by philosophies of Eastern Orthodox iconography, styles of modern Western illustrators, and aesthetics of East Asian traditional fine arts.


It's all meow to her (2013) | $70
Cats meow everywhere on earth, but we humans interpret and transliterate the meow into different human words.  Meow in America becomes ngiyaw in the Philippines, ya-ong in Korea, and niaou in Greece.  Often we humans disagree over words and semantics and definitions and go to war over them.  In the meanwhile the cat meows, as if such disagreements are completely irrelevant to her.


Hestia (2013) |SOLD
Though domesticated, cats are known to be resilient, resourceful, independent, and wild.  They can survive for years and generations (think feral cats), and even cats with happy forever homes often like to go out and play.  Yet, they love the comfort of fireplace and your bed, and follow you into bathroom and stare at you wondering why you are sitting on the toilet.  Hestia was the ancient Greek Goddess of hearth fire, symbolizing households and domesticity.  In ancient times, home was where the fire was.  Maybe cats were drawn to the fires of ancient Egypt looking for ways to turn their brrr into purr.  Then they became their gods.

Take your stand (2013) | SOLD
Occupy Portland literally occupied the three downtown Portland parks between October 6 and November 12, 2011.  Though it remains still active to this day, the intensity of the Occupation during its early days has never been replicated.  In this small microcosm of a dynamic community, around 500 people (much higher during day time) lived together and experimented with new and different ways of being a community.  My experience there changed my life in a way nothing ever did.  Along with the 500 to 1000 people I encountered every day, I noted the presence of at least 12 "Occu-Cats."  Many were kittens and often found perched on someone's shoulder.  This is PJ (for "persistent jackass").
PJ

Kitty is very very sleepy (2013) | $70
As this show celebrates life and happiness, it is not complete without thinking a bit about death.  Fortunately, I have never encountered death of anyone close to me when I was around them, nor have I experienced life-threatening illnesses.  I am grateful for the gift of life.

When I was three years old, our family cat got sick and died.  I recall he was only about a year old when that happened.  How does one explain (or try to talk about) death to a three-year-old?  Sometimes we try hard to avoid this topic, thinking it is too difficult for children or plain bad luck even to talk about death.  But eventually all cats and just about all other life forms become very very sleepy, and die. 

Aside from physical death, though, I have experienced several spiritual deaths.  Broken relationships, lost opportunities, legal complications, betrayal, rape, all eat into the sense of innocence I had; yet, every time I seem to re-emerge stronger and wiser.

Feeling of loss and grief is not something most people like to experience.  With the kind of life I had, I also deal with anxiety -- which is often a subconsciously anticipated feeling of loss and grief.  It takes life away from me unless I keep it in check.
Grounded in the eternal (2013) | $70
What does a cat think?  Cats are very mysterious sometimes.

Out (2013) | $70
Willow wants out.  Willow wants out so much that he (yup) learned how to say "oooouuuuut" and says it every five minutes or so.
Dream outside the box (2013) | SOLD
This is more of an iconographical approach to art.  It is littered with lots of details (look at the map!).  When I was younger (and when I had more money and privilege) I loved to travel.  I collected maps and travel guides and borrowed even more from the library, studied them, and as soon as I arrived in any town I could move around like a local!  Portland was one of such destinations (I first came here on March 24, 1995 to go to Powell's!) and eventually fell in love with it.  Especially in Oregon, we have a strong pioneer ethos.  Even though we don't necessarily think of ourselves as old American West types, we are still exploring new ways and innovate as we go along.  Portland is now the world's second greenest city (only after Rejkjavik!) according to Grist.  We dream big, like the magnificent greatness of the nature in which the Willamette Valley is nestled in.  Also, the word DREAM spelled in all caps is in reference to the DREAM Act, one of the components of the comprehensive immigration reform proposals.  The scenery outside the window is that of the Ingenuity Innovation Farm near St. Helens, Oregon.

Catnip dreaming (2013) | $70
 
Now this is my silly-to-the-most-absurd at work.  Someone noticed that the bus in the Dream outside the box was a "Cat" bus, not Greyhound.  Yes, it was intentional.  I took on the theme and did it to the extreme in this piece.  It's 10 a.m. and do you know where your kitties are?  They may be heading to the Catnip Festival!  The background is the Union Station and the Broadway Bridge (and the Albers building witha skeleton of an old water tower and the Fremont Bridge behind), as well as the Station Place apartment complex right on the Lovejoy offramp.  I bike past that area rather often.  It is also at the Union Station where I first set my foot on Portland.


Extras


Scan this for Firefox theme (spot a kitten inside this QR code!)

What's next

April 2013: at AFRU Gallery (534 SE Oak St., Portland, Oregon 97214)

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