The idea or purpose of this is to have kinda like a graffiti feeling or how it look like! Like someone just threw it on there and splattered everything!!

Artist: Kiyomi Fukui 

Exhibition: Seeds of Contemplation, Biola University, La Mirada, CA; Poetics of Relation, DAC Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; LAND, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA; and PaperWorks Refolded, Brea Gallery, City of Brea, CA

Media:  Printmaking, General art, Ceramic 

Website: http://www.kiyomifukui.com/

Instagram: instagram.com/kiyomimiz

Art Conversation #5: Rebirth

Have you heard the saying “Do what you love”? It’s a very controversial saying, because one of the most common questions is, what are we doing for love? How do we know we’re doing it for love? Well if you’re doing something out of passion, something that makes you and others happy, putting the effort, doing what you love. Of course there’s many other answers, we all have our own opinions, we’re allowed to express how we feel, even though it may be different from everyone elses. Don’t be afraid, different is normal, because nothing in life is really normal we just say it is, but everyone and everything is unique in their very own way. With that being said I’d like to introduce an artist who knows about being abnormal. She has lived with all her life, and I could relate to her, and I would say it’s our blessing, it’s our way of life.  

    Our first Artist we have is Kiyomi Fukui a Japanese American artist who lives and works in Long Beach. She has lived both in Japan and America being able to become bilingual, and find her inspiration from both cultures. She received an MFA in Printmaking from Cal State Long Beach and a BFA in Graphic Design from La Sierra University. She also teaches general art at various institutions including California State University – Long Beach, Collective Print Studio, Los Alamitos Education Foundation, and Irvine Fine Arts Center, while making/selling wearable objects and taking on freelance graphic design/illustration projects. Her work consists  of very eco friendly work, her work is very good for the earth. It consists of both mother nature, recycling, some materialistic tools like paper, her work ranges from all sizes big and small, from being able to hold it in the palm of your hand to being able to see it from afar. Her work is more object oriented but it’s not just any object her work comes from more of spiritual drive, her artwork is piece and universally, this why I will proceed with what this means. 

At one point in our life we realized that there are things that don’t last forever and that makes them more precious. It makes you realize that you have to cherish, appreciate and enjoy what you have, before it’s too late. Kiyomi Fukui lived in a religious home, she was very influenced, her father is a pastor in japan, and her mom has a beautiful place in heaven. She has been inspired by both her parents to make her art. She came to realize that everything doesn’t last forever when sadly she lost her mother to cancer. Instead of having this resistance and hate towards it, she used her family’s religious connections to start her work. She connected with her work spiritually, for example “The Green Thumb Project” that was influenced by her mother as she had her mom’s thumb molded so she could reuse it to grow a plant and have her “rebirth”. She is able to connect with her mom shs able to re-grow her roots. From this I came to think that she could overcome and achieve anything she wants. She understands the value of loving what you have, and also that those things that don’t last forever they can last forever; you just depend on how you make them last forever.. This is not her only work she also has the “Apologetic Garden” which also has the people connect to the art connect to the art. Art is made from passione, from effort, and you can connect with your art more than the physical aspect of it. Her art work is not only seen but its felt, and i’m not talking about feeling it physically. 

As we spoke in the introductory, are you really doing what you love? Kiyomi Fukui is exactly doing that, she is doing what she loves, and no matter what life throws at her no matter where she is she has this vabrient life that doesn’t let her give up, her spirit, her soul is the purest of all, she is strong. I can personally connect with her. Being immigrated into a different place isn’t easy, well because your different everyone sees you as not being normal and she embraced that. She embraced not being normal and instead of letting it be a setback or instead of seeing it as a “curse’, she has used it to her advantage and she has shaped her life because of it. I know that feeling, I know that feeling of being out of your comfort zone and it’s a real question you ask yourself: What am I? Who am I? You are who you want to be, anything in this world is possible, while you may not have things permanently forever, you can have them spiritually forever. You can connect to life, and really see the beauty of it, you can see that life is an art work, and you’re an art piece that belongs in that art work. You paint how you want to be seen 

What was your idea? My idea was to bring some positivity from this pandemic and that is that the world is doing great now that we are looked in, the air is cleaner, the skies are blue, the mountains are greener, the sceneries and wildlife is flourishing and it’s amazing.

What materials did you choose? I chose sustainable and ephemeral materials. I picked some grass from around my house, and then I used marbles my mom has for decoration, then I used white blank paper, a shell and a big shell for the sun. The grass was thrown back onto the yard, the marbles washed and put back in place, the white paper saved to be reused as well as the yellow paper it will be used for scratch paper.

Do you think your piece was able to express your idea? I think my piece was able to express my idea as you can see a the world and it has a little face mask because of the virus and how it’s looks green and blue extra shiny then it normally does!

How did your choice of materials influence the experience of your artwork? The marbles and shells gave me the idea of this because leaving here on Catalina we really care about it eco system so seeing that the whole world is doing great in a way is also really inspiring and stunning

How long should a kiss last? As long you want it to last, not everyone has to be labeled and done a certain way to be perfect, it all depends on you

How long should a great meal last? As long as we want to enjoy it

How long should a work of art last? Art is everywhere it’s forever, it for a moment, it’s in the future, it’s in the past, it’s here and there art can last any given moment

How long should a marriage last? Marriage is suppose to last forever but tomorrow isn’t promised and sometimes things just don’t work and that’s ok

How long should a human life last? There is no infinitive answer, as I said tomorrow isn’t promise you gotta live life

Does the fact that some things, like ephemeral artworks and human lives, have a finite time and then are gone make a difference in the way we experience them? Yes it does because you have to enjoy them while they last, and you don’t want to live with any regrets that you didn’t get to enjoy that finite time

Should other things, like clean water, air, and land be sustainable and long lasting? It should be, because we all depend on it but is it guaranteed, no it’s not so we have to be humble and take care of what we have

Can one person, like you, make a difference in a global problem like Climate Change? Yes. A lot of people say who cares I’m just 1 person, and 1 persons can’t change everything, while that is correct, your still that 1 persons that can’t make the difference and you can join others and eventually you won’t be the only one that’s making a difference

To be honest, I had a hard time with I struggled I felt lost, unnoticed, confused, frustrated.. I got help and took another route on this virtual art gallery but that’s ok life is meant that way, it has its own “The Road Not Taken” – (Robert Frost) for us. My road was to explode these next 3 characters and get some information out of them which I did, and opened a new view of playing video games for me.

– Eva & Franco Mattes

They have art exhibition illustrating how all our data, search history, social media, everything is kept record in a long wire. We have become attached to our phones, and government agencies, data dealers, and so on are using this data to manipulate us, we went from not knowing anything to knowing everything. They explain how it’s much harder now to hide in the shadows, then it is to be identified.

Next we have * Joseph DeLappe *

Joseph DeLappe has changed and elevated the way a game is seen and “played”. For many years video games have been used to escape the real world, a distraction, somewhere you can have fun, be yourself, and do things you can’t in real life, or express yourself, not the way your allowed in real life. One of these examples is GTA a worldwide known game and played that has been used for political use, attention to current world problems, as in gun control, mass killings and so on. There’s also games like kill box, that teach you about the technology usage and advancement in the army.

Then we have another usage of the internet. This is freedom of press, being able to express whoever or however you want to be behind closed doors. You can make art and be part, you can be who or what you desire, without being told you can’t. This is Molly Soda, a digital artist, she’s known through social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, and tumbler. This isn’t your typical don’t touch, inspirational, classy art gallery this art gallery is exploring “the technological meditation of self identity” stated in annkakultys.com

www.youtube.com/watch

1. What was your goal with your video?                            My goal for this video was just to record the day of April 7th, and show a little about my routine everyday           

2. Did you accomplish your goal? Why? Or why not?                     I did accomplish my goal because you can see the different routines I am doing, the only thing I didn’t accomplish was recording the whole day because there was a time I had forgotten i was suppose to be vlogging           

3. What would you do differently next time?                        Next time I would prepare with better camera equipment, definitely more edits, themes, background music the whole icing on the cake 

4. Do you think you’ll ever vlog again?                            My answer right now is no, but I wouldn’t leave that as my final answer, because it wasn’t too bad, i had fun with it 

5. Who is your favorite YouTuber? (not counting heyit’smay, Emma Chamberlain, Natalie Tran, or any of the YouTubers on this page)                 I don’t really watch vlogs on youtube i don’t have a specific youtuber but if anything it would be jesus ortiz a famous mexican singer. 

6. What about their work appeals to you?                         The energy behind the videos I think is what catches most my attention because of course you want viewers to like it 

7. What lessons can you take from their work to apply to your own vlogging? Exactly what I said energy, and getting engaged with the audience more to make them laugh and enjoy the video 

8. What is Authenticity? Authenticity is in my opinion being true to yourself and your beliefs being original  

9. What is Performance? Performance is acting, in most cases being someone you are not 

10. Are Authenticity and Performance opposites? Or can they exist together? Explain! I feel like they can co-exist just because you can perform while being authentic, while being true to yourself, but of course they do counter each other. 

11. Below are 2 clips of Jennifer Aniston on the Jimmy Kimmel show – one in the studio and one from home during the coronavirus pandemic. Do you think either clip is more authentic? Is either more performative? Why or why not? The first clip where she is at the Jimmy Kimmel show she is being more performative because she needs to act for the show, for the views, versus the second clip she is being herself, while at home

Artist: Masha Soroudi

Exhibition: Interview 

Media: Flowers, realism 

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Gatov Gallery West

Website: http://www.mahsasoroudi.com

Instagram:mahsasoroudi

                    Coronavirus my Succulent 

“Fighting for life” is the best way to tell the personality and lifestyle of Masha Soroudi. She was born 1981, in Tahren, Iran. She will be turning 39 this upcoming year. Around 2011-2012 she immigrated with her newly beloved husband. They first moved to Iowa for 6 month before moving to Los Angeles where she lives. She did not have the stereotype of Iran life where you think she was in a war zone, living day to day hoping she would get blown to bits. She said she did not live that first hand expierence, she lived in a moderate muslim family. Her mother and father are very interested in art, his father in fact is a painter, and has his own painting academy. Her passion for art is very inspired by her parents, but the real reason she moved and we were able to see this interview from august 4th 2016, was because she wanted to move was to have a better education, to have a better opportunity, to have her own life. 

To begin with, well I should say before we explain and show the art, we are going to describe it in words, and paint the picture in people’s mind. First we have her small succulent plants that are in a plastic cart, just like how the one egg’s come in, but with plastic, and there’s soil in each little cup. The succulents are like agaves but round, and they have tiny rose-like form flowers coming out of it. Some take longer to grow then others do, and then some have roots growing out of them while others don’t. Then we get to the actual flourished flower, and we can see that is has struggled, parts of it look old, brown, dead, but then the strong ones look beautiful green long, straight, and then there’s some that turned their life around, they were dying at first but then didn’t give up re grew its root turned its life around flourished. The other project is a project for people where she comes from, can have a chance to be seen and heard, to be able to be shared to other parts of the world. Now this is the part where we can connect the dots. 

Her Succulent flowers not only did they flourish, but they motivated a newly immigrated person who had doubts, sadness, loneliness thoughts. This brought her back to life, as it reminded her to not give up. To be patient as she said, and give it time, let it grow, and that’s exactly what she did. She gave her life, herself, her art a chance to grow, a chance to plant new roots. It showed her that she was far away from home her roots would never die, and her new roots are growing and just getting started. Her other project 7,500 miles is inspired by her home, it’s inspired because not many people have a voice in Iran. Not many people can express themselves, ideas, or art. They don’t even have access to the internet. This project was more than just a gallery, it was a gallery that gave hope to people, brought new life, and be able to express themselves especially to women who have the hardest time. Unlike her who her family provided many access to resources, she wants to do the same thing and give back to the people of Tehran. 

To conclude her art is very interesting because it is the best art project, but because of the passion behind them. The story, the dedication, and life behind them. What also caught my attention, was that she was an immigrant. I say this catches my attention because I can relate to her, moving to a new unfamiliar place, having to start over, but you’re doing it for the right thing you’re doing because you want better for you. I can relate to her having so much trouble, but it means so much more sticking with yourself, riding and pushing yourself till you finally achieve what you want. For her it was planting a life here in LA and bettering her life, now I do the same, planting my roots In CSULB be patient let it grow out and hopefully I grow into something big as well. 

Not copying the map, and actually picturing and having to think about it is much for more fun to draw it out even though, please excuse my 10 year old drawing I tried my best 😭

So I explained to my little brother who helped me with this. I told him that we had to draw, with our eyes closed holding hands and he asked draw what, I said anything our mind takes us, and somehow we took our mind on a spin hahahaha, it was a weird but very fun experience I would like to see what everyone else drew or if who you draw it with has a different style

“When I was the size of a dime, I didn’t know there would be a crime. The cries, the hugs, the fear was there, the love of the light was what changed it all. I was born, with a thorn in my back! This thorn in the back would never let me look back, as in the back was pain! Pain meant to be drained. It was drained the day I promised to be the man of the house, yeah the man of the house, with no dime in hand, only time in hand. With this time in hand, he would wash the pain, as the pain was getting drained by the love of a mother a mother who has give her time to raise this man of the house. He would not let her down, because now he is grown. Grown, by the time, grown by the pain, he was not letting no line limit him, as he can define that himself.”

What were you trying to think about in your song?                           I was thinking about my mom, the hardship she’s been through, and also me, her being my rock my warrior, my everything 

What was your process for writing your song?                                         I was just trying to think of something inspirational, something that would make a mark, and relate to people 

Was it easy? Hard? What you expected? Surprising?                         It was definitely not easy. I have never sat down and said I’m gonna write a song, and now that I did, I give so much more props to musicians because my mind was blank. It was harder then taking a test 

How successful do you think your song is?                                              I don’t think my song was successful at all, it was kinda frustrating but I was trying to complete my assignment 

Do you think you will ever write another song? No I don’t think I will ever write another song, because I’m gonna leave that to the gifted people as that is not my subject 

If you did write another song, what do you think it might be about?       If I wrote another song I would try to make it flow, because mine sucked, and it did not flow at all, but like I said this hard hahah 

“before & after” photos of yourself

Describe what you tried to do.

What I tried to do was create a performance like spongebob did at the famous halftime show. I hadn’t meant or attempted to talk to no one unless I had to, and this is one of those I had to but I’m glad I did. I was able to meet new people, make new friendships. I got out of my comfort zone and it was great

If possible any photos with people you encounter would be nice (not required)

What were their reactions to you? What did they think your name was? Your major? Did you find them responding to you differently than people ordinarily do?

My tee shirt gave me a confidence booster because people were complementing me, since they know/remember/ like that episode and sponge bob in general. I was wearing an ice breaker to get things started. The many people I met guessed my name was, Alex, ángel, Jesús and one person guessed it right jose, but everyone was surprised when I told them I go by freddy that my name comes from my middle name Alfredo.

Your conclusions about the experience

This experience was 10/10. I insist and recommend you keep this hw, because it’s not even hw, its more then that, it gives the opportunity for people to actually try and explore, the beautiful diverse campus we have, it lets us make different friendships, new ones, experience different cultures by meeting other people, once again thank you for that

Why did you choose this story?                             I chose this story to give my audience a little personality of myself, by showing them that to me life is food.

How do you think you did?                                 I think I could have been more creative, and something more important, but that is important, and interesting to me.

Which image do you think is the individually “best” image in your story? I would have to say that the best image in my story, is the one of me on the table eating with all my roommates. It is the best imagine in my story because it shows we have a little family, and we care about one another. 

Does your photostory contain an image that you think is not, by itself, a “great” image, but that is nonetheless important because it helps to tell your story?                                             I would have to say where my friends walk into the house because its whatever, they are just walking into the door, but that is where the story starts, it’s where the main point of the story comes from, and that is them bringing food. 

What would you do different next time? Nextime I would do a better photostory, that would be more meaningful, and important that tells my history life

Are there other Photo Stories you might like to tell?  Not that I can think off of my head, but I think there is a chance that there are other photo stories I can tell.