Friends of Maiden: the opening night.

if you happened to be hiding under a rock last Thursday night, this is what you missed out on. but lucky for you the exhibition doesn't end until the 9th July. so go on, support your local artists!

gallery 2 at Gaffa.

love: redefined.

this word is not always spelt in black and white but i think i've made sense of it.

after receiving these text messages yesterday, a notion of what could have only been triggered by the awakening from Thursday's opening, i base my definition on this.

i'm often questioned about this subject as my friends do not quite understand my reasoning. i absolutely adore these two guys in my life. i am in love with every part of their being, and not in the way that i want to tie any knots with them. nor is it just the brotherly love you feel for your siblings. it's much more than either of that put together. i get this surreal feeling of happiness everytime i see or talk to them, and that to me is bliss right now.

...it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

did i promise you something i couldn't keep?

this thing right here began almost 4 years ago to the day. and we're celebrating that in a form of an exhibition. enter: Friends of Maiden. 

i have an array of friends who have very different outlooks on life, love and everything in between. on one side i have the realists, and on the other, the dreamers. i find myself floating somewhere in the middle, exactly where i want to be. 

the Awakening is somewhat my comeback collection, as i feel i have been neglecting the true essence of the label Maiden by taking on other side projects. as apparent as it may seem, this collection did not derive from a dark place. the title suggests, a rebirth, or coming to a realisation of. which in this case, reminding myself that 'i will design' (dezain shimasu, as my ink reads).

the images are dark and twisted, and i wouldn't have it any other way. but i promise you, these pieces i have put hours of work into are nothing less than unconventional. 

see you at the show...

drawing inspiration.

i recall wanting to be an art teacher when i was a wee child, until i came to realise that 1. i'm not good at public speaking and 2. i dislike kids. i remember one time in grade 6 when we had those peer support programmes where we all got allocated a kindergarden student to take care of for a week. i got so annoyed that my kid couldn't colour in between the lines. so i did it for them and let them take credit for it. as i got older, i still don't appreciate crappy colouring in. but i wouldn't mind teaching a 'portfolio/presentation' class at TAFE. i love doing projects, but a graphic design job would probably do my head in. so here's my short tutorial on collaging...

you have to remember that not everybody is visual. so as a creative, you must illustrate your ideas in picture form to tell your story or sell your concept. there are 3 main things you need to do this; a concept, time and photoshop. have your concept and focus on the direction you want it to go. familiarise yourself with the programmes you need to aid your project. and set aside time to do this, as you cannot rush perfection. 

i have folders and folders of jpegs that i have collated throughout the years. i spend hours on google and several blog sites picking out images that inspire me and awaken my imagination. start on your own collection as this will be your library for future storyboards. credit where you can. it's good to reference, but i didn't go to uni so i know no better. google image search holds anything and everything you're looking for. be descriptive with your search and you're certain to find the right image for your collage. 

collaging to me is more than cut and pasting pictures onto a canvas. there's almost an art form to it. filter the images you will use by colour, theme and relevance. this will help you with the consistency of your visual presentation.

the first blueprint is my mind map of what i want the interior of the exhibition to look like. if you skip down to the third collage of all the images i used, you can see that i manipulated alot of the objects to scale. i also used the whole frame of some of the images to layer, creating another dimension to the artwork. 
the second collage is the moodboard for my collection, the direction of what i want the models to convey. collaging is all about layers and if you think about it, it's almost like a puzzle. play with the opacity and sizing of the images until it fits. with practice you will know when to overlay or when to erase the background.

and that's how you collage. if you almost feel disturbed by the images, then my work here is done...   

friends of maiden: Machiko Motoi.

where i am.

wehere i'm going.

"MACHIKOmotoi's first ceramic collection is an honest representation of the moment.

The pieces are left unfired exposing the raw material and leaving them in their fragile state.

A drop of water can soften the surface... they are incomplete, vulnerable and comically inconsistent.

This is the moment of her ceramic practise that is growing with passion and determination.

The paintings have been made with hope to compliment the ceramic pieces.

This is where she is. This is where she's going."

Machiko is a dear friend i met through work, back in 2010. i clearly remember wanting to be good friends with her because i believe that the Japs are one of the coolest beings on this planet! haha, true story. being in Machi's apartment feels like you've just stepped into her own personal gallery. and i love it. i admire this girl's passion for art, social skills, and the fact that she looks like Jane Lane from Daria. did i mention that i'm going on an inspirational trip with this girl? drawing, capturing and discovering the world in all its 'ugliness'. the perfect person to share this journey with. bring. it. on!!

the name game.

the rule of thumb (so i thought): is when you collaborate, you credit. ALL parties.
this was published in a mag sometime last year. my styling. my gun.