art

Inspiration: Shephard Fairey and Propaganda Artwork

Street (and gallery) artist Shephard Fairey talks about his philosophy on creating the propaganda-inspired pieces. His manifesto is amazing too.

Some conservatives write off Shephard Fairey and Banksy as mere vandals, but I believe that they’re examples of how art is accessible to everyone and how important imagery could be. Visual artists speak to the senses and enough repetition of certain ones could influence the subconscious in some fashion. Fairey’s Obama image has revolutionized street art, as the public attached their own view onto the image. All art (commercial and noncommercial) seems to be some form of propaganda–either from one’s own agenda or another’s–to inspire, think, or feel. . .

Artwork: Typographic Bird

Typographic Bird

Typographic Bird is a shirt design based on typographic explorations of serif letters. The swoosh and wingding elements created an interesting graphic form. This is also available at Zazzle, where the shirt colors could be customized.

Artwork: Silver and Pearl Pendant Necklace

As a side hobby, I’ve been tinkering with jewelry design. This collage was created from old beads, chain, pearls, wires, and pliers. The large pendent was taken from an multi-layered earring piece.

I created 5 jewelry pieces that same day, but my arm paid the price. My carpal tunnel started acting up and I was unable to function properly for the next few days. Needless to say, I won’t be doing too many jewelry projects for a while. . . but I’m happy how the pieces came out.

Photo: Burning Spirit Papers

In this photo, my grandfather was burning the spirit papers during Chinese New Year as a form of Taoist ancestor worship. The gold printing indicates wealth. Burning the papers allows the items to be transfered to the deceased, where they would be able to use the items in the spirit realm.

Photo: Protection Spell

Chinese New Year is a time of celebration and rememberence — memories, relationships, and the deceased. I was lucky enough to celebrate Chinese New Year with my grandparents. They are practicing Buddhists, but also incorporate Taoist traditions.

After bowing three times to honor the ancestors, joss or spirit papers were burned as an offering to the ancestors–so they would have “money” and other items to use in the afterlife. After the items were placed in the flames, a “protection spell” was chanted. During this, my grandfather poured wine while walking in a circle. In many old religions and mysticism, a circle is a commonly used symbol–protecting everything within a circle and preventing negative energies from corrupting the elements.