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| portrait for kava & chai . 2019 |
i sense this is going to be another post where i let out feels! i type this as i'm still taking it easy post march madness, and feeling slightly uninspired by my surroundings.
it's been almost a year since i've moved back home, and things have been extremely busy with work which is swell. but i think i've started to realise that a studio practise shouldn't just entail client based projects. i tend to swamp myself with commercial work, and neglect making things that excite me – experimentation, drawing, making t-shirts, comics and zines. which has also led to neglecting myself on a personal level too – lack of exercise, living and working in cluttered spaces – an overall lack of keeping my mind, body and spirit happy.
i've also realised that humbler projects i've worked on touch an audience more then seeing an 'artwork' displayed in an exhibition. during fully booked last month, it was so great seeing people's reactions to some of the publications i've worked on, and hearing that they connect with what's being communicated. another event i worked on was a live drawing session during difc's 'art night' (an event i haven't attended in years) for a coffee shop called kava & chai that's recently opened a new location there. i had to draw customers who stopped for a taster at their coffee stand, and to my amazement, people loved getting free 3-5 minute a5 sized portraits of themselves. i drew a total of 61 portraits in 4 hours, of strangers queuing and willing to wait in line for a simple drawing of themselves. it was touching to see this simple gesture make all these people happy. and that's what i always want my work to be – accessible.
i think i'm also slightly frustrated with the art/cultural scene here and the abundance of mediocrity that's constantly being supported, be it through organisations or individuals that perpetuate lazy and uninspiring events and projects. i think i have a bigger problem with the idea that such events and activities are always considered a 'success' in the end, only because people always turn up, regardless of quality. but that's not how an event should be measured – the masses have a tendency to turn up to events because there's always something to do. that shouldn't allow for giving a pass to organisers hosting poor events, and participants to make frivolous works to showcase. and because no one says anything, it happens over and over again! i was personally disappointed with a couple of events that's happened between march and now – one with the reputation of being the 'fringe' art fair, and another catering to 'comic book/pop culture' aficionados. i think their quality and standard has deteriorated compared to how i remember it being before heading to grad school. seeing the positive support and praises, for both institutions/organisations and creatives without acknowledging their lack of quality, is really discouraging to see. it forces myself, including a lot of my peers, to disassociate ourselves from such cultural activities.
i'm not saying that everything going on here is bad. in fact, there's some great things happening on a regular basis, as well as some amazing talent making great work. but i think it's time to voice the problems so that it stops repeating itself. i wish there can be some way of having an open discussion about this – if anyone reading shares similar thoughts, or even disagrees with anything i've mentioned here – i for one would love to talk about it. i think organisations should start listening to critical feedback and show respect to proper talent that exists in our community. we all need to work together to fix problems from the ground up. and i have good faith that this is possible. it's not difficult, it just needs the right people doing it.