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ARTIST STATEMENT
“I may never have experienced a centaur, but by imagining one, I know that I can also imagine others that resemble this one and yet are different.” – Leo Strauss, 20th century political philosopher.
In my work, I illustrate my own imaginative world, a place where creatures of fairy tales, imagination, nursery rhymes, and lullabies, which are a part of our childhood and adult fantasies, interact – be it warring or not. Narrative in nature, my drawings centralize around characters or interactions, be it between dead animals or fantastical creatures, in the midst of barren landscapes or ruins. I am trying to evoke a mood and/or tone that can be melancholic, humorous, puzzling, tender, and/or erotic all at the same time. My goal is to construct my own tales and stories, “that resemble this one and yet are different” in a way that is unique, yet collectively non-unique for the viewer.
My work addresses gender roles/gender assignment given to mermen, the fragility of unicorn/panda dynamics, domestic violence between centaurs and unitaurs, the tender and romantic relationship between obese men and mammals and the underlying threads of violence and danger that underpin all other-worldly societies. .
Most of my drawings are from the subconscious of my childhood, yet sometimes they are directly from things in this world – strange umbrella handles I’ve found, a mime book I was given, and/or a cup in the shape of a gun I bought at the thrift store. In my color-barren drawings I try to establish a dream-like surreal quality or suggest notions that these creatures could have existed in another time and/or place. By placing a drawing of a giant onto a 1970’s National Geographic magazine page or taking a photograph in which my life-size merman is being held in the arms of a person dressed as an ancient mariner I hope to convince the viewer in a child-like way that it could have happened.
My use of color, primarily in white and black, feature red, started out quite innocently, but later became more definitive aspect of my work. Because the use of pens on paper was the medium of my childhood and reflects my love of black and white comic book and fantasy art typically found in the Monster Manuals of role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, I was drawn to the two-dimensional aspects of and minimal use of color that were typical of these “sword and sandle” genres. In this context, red is the most important color because it indicates blood, and in that way, my three-color theorem of black, white, and red allow me to draw attention or highlight aspects of the piece in the same way.
Through my art, I am my own revisionist of mythological history and fantasy. Sometimes straightforward and sometimes purposefully naïve, my titles provide clues to content and interpretation, but they are generally misleading and/or ambiguous. An admirer of literature from the past, my use of archaisms as well as overtly awkward sentence structures and lengths allude to my interests and love of mythology, Latin, and folklore.
Ultimately, I enjoy using humor, fantasy, and the strange to help create something both familiar and unfamiliar, enjoyable, yet disturbing, child-like and still somehow mature, but through the use of merman, centaurs and obese men.
EXHIBITION HISTORY / CV
2008
12x36 A Local Lens, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Seoul, Korea, February
Carmichael Gallery, Group Show, LA, April
2007 Shows
Gallery Revisited, December That Show, LA, December
Carmichael Gallery, Small Pieces Show, LA, December
Gallery Revisited, Collaborative Show/Book Release, LA, June
The Friends of Ism Show, Group Show, LA, April
Cop A Feel Show, Group Show, LA, April
The Empty Bed Group Show, Stephanie Feury Studio Theater with Sharon Yablon, absurdist playwright, LA, February
Don't Cause A Scene, Music/Art, LA, Every Sunday, February 4th thru 28th
The Hive Gallery and Studios, New Years Eve Show featuring Wilson Hsu, January
Worms Save the Planet, Worm Pin Design, January
2006
The Hive Gallery and Studios, Group Art Show, November
Gallery Revisited, Los Angeles, October
Echo Curio Gallery, 1st Group Show, Los Angeles, October
Other Projects
2007
Contributing Artist, Papertrigger, Philadelphia, PA, October
Cover Art, 138 Collective Magazine, Brisbane, AUS, October
Contributing illustrator, Daytrotter.com, Chicago IL, October
Freelance Artist, Enjoi Skateboards, Pro Model Graphics, June
Animator/Artist, Bob Industries for Sprint “Dreams” Commercial directed by Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris, June
Contributing Designs, Willis Clothing and ISM Magazine, Costa Mesa, CA, June
Freelance Graphic Artist, SAATCHI & SAATCHI - IDEAS COMPANY for Dr. Marten’s Defy FREEDM shoes, United Kingdom, for release in August 2008, March
Illustrator, T-shirt, Poster, and Pins, for Division Day, Los Angeles, CA, March
Freelance Illustrator, CD Cover for Davin Givhan, Los Angeles, CA, February
Freelance Illustrator, CD Cover for Touch Committee, San Francisco, CA, February
Illustration, Poster for The Happy Hollows, Los Angeles, CA
Contributing Illustrator, Daytrotter.com, Chicago, IL
CONTACT
michaelchsiung@gmail.com
www.michaelchsiung.com
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