Sixteen years ago today at MacDowell

No. 16
This is actually a post from my other blog, Altered Book Pages: Floating words and art on book pages.

This was sort of my "diary" and it was exactly sixteen years ago today at MacDowell. I still remember the darkness in the woods, but I also remember the moon light so bright that I could walk in the woods without a flashlight.

I also made two amazing artist friends while I was at MacDowell, and we've been good friends for sixteen years. Reflecting on the past as the end of the year approaches, I'm grateful for our friendships for all these years. I'm also grateful for the strengths I was able to gain at each challenges in my life with support and encouragement from all my friends.

Gregg Woolard, Jon Rappleye and me in NYC

Thanks, Gregg and Jon for your friendship for all these years.

And thanks to all my friends, colleagues, teachers, and families for including me in your life and being a part of my life this year. (And if you're reading this, thanks for reading!)

May the New Year brings much joy and happiness to all. 

Toi et Moi

Some nights, I still miss Ash. After a long day at work, sometimes all I want is a fluffy companion and a nice cocktail.

Toi et Moi: Explication

Toi et Moi: Epreuve

Toi et Moi: Piano

Toi et Moi: Inquietude

Visible Soul

I’ve been making cat drawings on old book pages from a French poetry book called “Toi et Moi” (You and Me) by Paul Géraldy (1885–1983.)

Toi et Moi - Defaite
Ink and mineral pigment on old book page
2014

I don’t know French, so I can’t read the poems. I once tried to give this book to a poet friend of mine who loves Paris and knows French. He politely declined by saying that he has way too many books in his place, and cannot bring any more books home (such as this one.) And he added, “And you may want to use this book for your art, Naoe. So, why don’t you keep it for yourself?”

And I’m using it now. I’m glad that I still had this book, and the title and feel of these old book pages just seem so right for what I’m doing. This work is for my beloved cat, Ash.

Ash passed away last October. She was seventeen years old, a sweet cat, blind and deaf, intelligent, patient, a hunter in her youth, and a Zen master in her old age. She was full of wisdom, always on her own pace but also easy-going as cat can be. She easily adapted to a new environment whenever I moved (and I moved four times in her life.) She was loved by many people. A number of friends took turn in taking care of Ash while I was away at art residency a few months before she passed away. It needed a team of friends to do so, including giving her infusion time to time. With her blind eyes, she could see infinity, and she could see the depth in your heart. In her last month, I was in the studio working everyday, and she was always besides me, side by side, almost joined by hips like a conjoined twin. She kept me a company. On her last night, she slept in my arms all night. In the early morning the next day, five minutes after I woke up and while I was watching her, she took her last breath. She gave me time to say good-bye to her. I told her I loved her and she could go.

Toi et Moi - Passe

“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.”

-Jean Cocteau

After Ash was gone, my eyes kept looking for her in every corner of the house. I kept seeing traces of Ash everywhere. And I still do, and I feel her presence.

Toi et Moi - Meditation

* * * * * * * * *

Ash will be joined by lots of cats who were loved, adored, spoiled and captured in many different forms of art by artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, Andy Warhol, Edward Weston and many more. I think Ash would be really thrilled. I wonder if this might even help her status in the cat heaven. I hope so.

Toi et Moi - Habitude

Toi et Moi - Tendresse

 * * * * * * * * *

Visible Soul: Celebrating the feline as muse through painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture. 

“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.”

-Jean Cocteau

The exhibit will highlight the feline-inspired work of established and mid-career artists while giving a well-deserved nod to the felines of antiquity and early cinema. 

Visible Soul: Celebrating the feline as muse through painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture.

Curated by Andrew Mroczek

Reception: Thursday, May 15th, 6-8pm

VanDernoot Gallery

Lesley University

1815 Massachusetts 

Cambridge, MA 02140

Featuring works by: Ulisse Aldrovandi, Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo, Leonard Baskin, Louise Bourgeois, Carlos Cardenas, Jan Groover, Karin Gulbran, Yui Kugimiya, Duane Michals, Bob Mizer, J. Morrison, Karen Moss, Mueller & Robinson, Bernard Picart, Andre Ruesch, Carolee Schneemann, Kiki Smith, Naoe Suzuki, Arne Svenson, Louis Wain, Andy Warhol, Shen Wei, Edward Weston, Neil Winokur, and many more…

The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

Visible Soul is dedicated to the lives and memories of Mr. Grover and Pigeon, who were, quite possibly, the world’s most adorable, ill-behaved cats. (Andrew Mroczek)

You don’t want brown water to flow

There’s nothing pleasant about dealing with sewage water, especially when it floods all over your house. That’s exactly what I had to deal with after coming back from Japan.

Two days after my return, having barely unpacked my suitcase, my condo got flooded with sewage water, not from a frozen pipe, but by an incompetent plumber who was working on the unit above my unit. I had suffered from a jetlag a night before. Being awake since 2am in the morning, I had been working on translation for the description of my work that I was sending to Japan for an auction at a gallery over there. I also translated my bio into Japanese, packaged all those prints, and got them ready to be sent. I skipped lunch and I was getting extremely tired when I drove off to the post office around 2pm. All I could think of was that I would have some light lunch when I get home and just crash in my bed (my own bed!) I got a phone call from my roommate not even five minutes after I left the house. He said that the condo was flooded with sewage water coming out of a toilet on the second floor, and my bedroom was already covered with it, water was coming from the ceiling in the dining room and in my studio, and all the smoke detectors were going off. My upstairs neighbor had called me just before I was leaving my driveway, telling me that they had a plumber working in their unit and not to use the toilet for a while. I had left my roommate a message. This was only five minutes ago, and now my unit is flooded with sewage water? Having jetlag effect, my brain couldn’t quite fathom what was being said.

When I got back, it was already a catastrophe. Brown water was falling from the ceiling, my bedroom was covered by sewage water, all the smoke detectors were going off, and water was still coming out of the toilet, it seemed. It didn’t take a long time to make a huge damage.

It was a disaster.

I’ll skip the disgusting part of cleaning the sewage water. And I’ll skip the stressful part of dealing with disaster afterwards. Most of my condo had to be gut out and replaced. I lived in a hotel for three weeks, and only last week I was able to relocate to a small studio apartment.

I know it could’ve been worse, a lot worse.

Fortunately, none of my new works in the studio were damaged. That was the amazing part. When I got back, I walked into my studio right away, and saw the water falling right near the wrapped artworks. I moved them right away. I was relieved to see that the water was coming from just one part of the ceiling, and not from directly above my rolled up 10 feet drawing, "Blue."

Not so fortunate was everything I had underneath my bed, including some prints I had made at graduate school. I had tucked in many old prints and drawings there, and they were all damaged. Some of them were work prints, and most of them were thin rice papers, so a lot of got damaged very quickly.

So for the sentimental reasons, I’ll post some photos of these works. I still have most of the prints that I actually used for these installations. But I always made more, in case I wanted to make the size of installation larger. And those extra prints were the ones I put them underneath the bed. 

Neglected children always end up with their future ruined.  

Perpetual Self Discipline

1996 - 1997

Mixed media Installation: Size variable

Xerox transfer on rice paper, cast glass of dumbbells and video

Detail

My History: not my self

1999

Installation

Xerox transfer on rice paper

15’ x 10’

Detail

Next is I

1998 - 1999

Mixed media installation: Size variable

xerox transfer on rice papers, forced tulip bulbs,

soil, terra cotta pots and saucers