The first semester of my painting degree has wrapped up.
Here is some of what I've been up to in the studio since returning from Taiwan (the better stuff!). I'll add the sizes of the works when I get around to measuring them.
The Angels of Lanyu
Oil on two attached boards
I'm considering this painting to be the last of my Taiwanese
series. It's based on my short time on Lanyu (also known as Orchid
Island) and references the sometimes
difficult relationship between the island and the mainland. The old mural in
the lower half of the image is a government sponsored promotion of modern
hygiene and health among the population using local imagery of traditional
dress and fishing boat. The rental scooters in the foreground symbolise the
burgeoning tourism trade on the island, towards which the population holds an
ambivalent attitude. The aeroplane is the link between the mainland and the
island - in winter it is the only link due to rough seas. The dancing girls in
the sky are taken from a series of photographs documenting the local cultures
in the 1960s.
Copy of Liu Xiaodong
Oil on board
I made this small copy of a Liu Xiaodong for an assigned project. This painter is my Chinese namesake. Liu is the surname and Xiaodong means "Little East". In Taiwan I had to choose a name so I went for Li Xiaonan - "Leigh Little South", since I'm from the Southern hemisphere. Apparently in Chinese it sounds incredibly dopey. Needless to say I think Liu Xiadong is a great painter, and I was lucky enough to see one of his shows in Taipei. A nice segue to the next painting....
Taipei Tourist (Self Portrait)
Oil on Canvas
Me standing in front of an outdoor poster for a Vermeer show. The old frame within a frame trick!
Cartoons on Glass
Oil on louver window slats
The idea behind these small figures was originally to create a series of caricatures or stereotypes - the businessman, the skater kid, the tough guy poser, the hipster, etc., but I got some requests to do other students so around half of these are tiny versions of fellow students. I had fun with it. That's me top right.
Retaining Wall and
Cafe Still Life
Oil on Board
I like these two together as they share a colour family. It might not be all that apparent but I was taking inspiration from an American painter called Neil Welliver whose technique involved expressive painterly shapes and distinct tonal separation between them. Hard to explain but well worth checking out his stuff. I was trying to model objects with lively colour relationships and tonal values and keeping blending to a minimum.
Skin #2, Skin #3, Skin #1
Oil on board
These are more abstract but continuing in the same vein as the previous paintings. I used close up photos of spotted gums on St Kilda Rd as inspiration for colour and shapes.These are all wet on wet one-session paintings.
Mirror
Oil on plastic aluminium composite
If I did this one again I would buy acrylics for the graphic background
. It was an interesting material to work on. I made it challenging for myself by leaving the shiny surface unmarked as the white in the image and attempting a cleaner style.
Still life in Studio
Oil on canvas
Hot Tap
Oil on Canvas
A couple of square still lifes on canvas, the first painted from life, the second from a photograph.
I'm now working on a few portraits so I should have more pictures up here soon folks!
