My friend Jason is unusually (not unusual for him, but unusual for people) adept at writing descriptions of my work. I've not seriously submitted these synopses as an artist statement to galleries, but I do think they deserve recognition.
I asked him if I could put them up here, and he agreed. He could make a killing on writing press releases for galleries!
The first one, from 2007:
Chan's portraits are bereft of the usual plethora of props and environmental fluff that infects less focused artists' work. Her subjects inhabit this vacuum as though they have been plucked out of their lives and frozen in time. Strangely, rather than leave the subjects deflated and breathless, this *negative* space of sorts only serves to intensify them, as though the air so extracted has been blown into their personalities.
The announcement that Nancy Chan will be showing new work at a show called Spaces reaffirms her bipolar relationship with the concept of enclosure. From a distance, the isolated elements of intricate black within an ocean of white force an obsession on the microcosm, like the huge badge your cool friend had in school that said "piss off" in 1 point text. Up close though, the figures inflate to provide a spatial universe of their own, as though the viewer was drawn through the singularity to live in their world.
Oh, and I suppose I should mention dates and whatnots for upcoming things.
I've been rather busy since November, and it'll be pretty nonstop until August, looks like.
The above drawing is one of many illustrations I recently completed for an upcoming publication called "Get High Now (Without Drugs)." It's sort of a meditative book with descriptions of poses you (and possibly with the assistance of friends) can do to achieve states of ... er, high-ness. Or something.
It's mind/body/soul stuff for you booksellers out there.
The book will be out in August or September this year. Can't wait to see how it actually turns out.
In exhibition news, I have a show coming up quick in the beginning of April. Opening April 3, Brett Amory and I will be putting up a show called "Spaces" at the Hyde St. Gallery in the Russian Hill area of San Francisco. It's a small gallery, but they're allowing us to paint the walls for installations so I'm pretty excited. Should be a lot of fun.
Following that, I'll have two large pieces (one made a year or so ago, one brand new) up in the San Francisco Chinese Culture Center biennial opening in May. There will be a catalogue and everything. Will keep you posted on the dates for that.
And following that (July) is a group show with Jesse Schlesinger and Matt Momchilov at Eleanor Harwood's gallery. I believe all three of us are aiming to make new work for that one. Last I spoke with them, they were all very psyched.
So that's my busy first half of the year. Will have to get down to LA at some point and celebrate a friend's recent nuptials. Otherwise, I'm down and out this Spring. It's all work, but it's all love, too.
When art calls, it's hard to say no.
This photo is from the photo shoot I did recently with Annie & Michael...
When I took this photo (this was the first of the both of them for the night), he made some comment about how I "always make it look like [they're] breaking up!"
Haha, so true.
This series very much makes it look like they're going through couple's counseling.
I never intend for that. Instead, I'm looking for interesting body poses, and I guess I'm naturally attracted to drawing "sad" faces. Smiling faces almost seem too difficult to market...?
Maybe I think if the subjects are smiling, viewers won't be as interested in trying to figure out what's going on.
Although this series, which has a lot of smiling, is still one of my favorites.
Who knows what I'll pull next? Crying? Hysterical laughter?
Hm, the more I look at this photograph, the more I like it. I thought Michael's expression would be too difficult to use, too silly or out of context, but it might be better than I originally thought...
