Issue #1 ExPress Feb 1, 2014
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EDITOR’S NOTE We are artists from all over the world: Belgium, China, Cuba, Japan, Mexico, S. Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, Venezuela, you name it! The diversity in which this magazine offers doesn´t stop here. We also feature artists ranging from teens to professionals. Our writers are the artists themselves, who write about their thoughts, opinions, personal stories, and poems about their pieces. Flip through the pages and explore every bit of our art magazine. Jane Han · Editor in Chief
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CONTENT 04
A Woman under Water
10
Beauty of an Elephant
12
The Blue Man
16
Open Market
22
The Ugly Lie
27
Mystic Curls
32
Achoo!
34
A Pickled Mistake
36
Dreamy World
42
Mother
48
Reflection
50
Trip to Costa Rica
56
Renovacion de Votos
72
An Imprisoned Mouth
Copyright 漏 ExPress, 2014
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A Woman under Water ExPress · 4
Hilary (Jun) Cai China
This is my first oil painting, and it took me almost 6 weeks to complete. The painting has a triangular structure with the topmost point shifted a little to the right. The bottom halfsection of the quadrant adds weight to the diver. The canvas used for this piece is by far the biggest one I have ever used. It was very challenging to work with, as seeing the whole picture was a problem, which affected the shadow and the composition. It was only after seeing the condensed version from the camera did I realize I made several mistakes. A couple of admirable qualities of the piece are the big bubbles that appear transparent in delicate forms. I put shadows under them so that they stand out. I could have, however, accentuated those forms by adding highlights to the shadows. The shoulders look obscure, which are done by using darker shades. Though the collar bones look realistic, I could have developed those structures to enhance the authenticity of the subject. When I was painting this, I was particularly inspired by Leonid Afremov’s color scheme.
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I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now? John Lennon ExPress · 7
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Beauty of an Elephant ExPress · 10
Anouk Schaedler Switzerland
The real motivation behind this piece, “Beauty of an Elephant,” comes from a pencil sketch in my art workbook. The sketch was an elephant head with a very masculine male human body, which caught the attention of my art teacher. Before I delved into this piece, I studied various photographs of elephants. The most intriguing photo was an image of a very old elephant with a younger one that not only had a kind expression, but also evoked an emotional response from the viewer. I immediately dived into the piece and tried to achieve Realism by taking the photograph and translating it into a charcoal sketch as realistically as possible. Conveying the immense breath-taking beauty of an elephant and capturing its full emotion were inspiring tasks. The expressions of the elephants came with a large amount of details, colors, and tones. Grayish and earth-like toned charcoal was the only medium I used in this piece. The tone of this specific medium worked well on the brown paper because it produced rough textures that fit perfectly with the elephant’s skin. Additionally, by coloring the background black, I was able to accentuate the expressions in its eyes and eliminate the bodies of the elephants. These changes put emphasis on the elephants’ heads and created some kind of unrevealed stories the elephants carry. They are looking at you as much as you are looking at them.
Beauty of an elephant
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The Blue Man ExPress · 12
Sachi Kamiya Japan-Peru
“The Blue Man” (on the right) depicts the inner struggle that a modern person must go through during his daily life. As a result, he is lost in his own subconsciousness. I used blue colors to convey a sense of anxiety and isolation. The style employed to depict the face is used to show the detached state of the man.
The Blue Man
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The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. Albert Einstein ExPress 路 15
Open Market Lee Heung Jae S. Korea
In the country side of where I’m from, we had an open market every five days. The locals would come not only to engage in commercial activities, but also to exchange warm greetings and stories. People would sit in a pub, share news and chatter with each other over a bowl of soup and a shot of ricebrewed beer. To them, having these small chit-chats and laughing together were truly memorable. Despite their shabby outfits in the photographs, their faces couldn’t be happier, and though these people may not be financially sufficient, they are grateful for what they have. Their satisfaction with their way of life is manifested in their body expressions and surroundings.
Translated by Jane Han
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The commencement of true happiness is the realization that your happiness begins with you. Ogwo David Emenike
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Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Confucius
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The Ugly Lie ExPress · 22
Samantha Bantly U.S.A
Last year, I undertook my first digital photography project, often using my bathroom as a studio and my mother as a shutter release. Despite my lack of sound experience and equipment, I enjoyed producing the twelve-piece series as a conceptual exploration of personal identity. As a teenage girl, I am particularly interested in the obsession with beauty as a benchmark of self-worth that plagues my generation. “The Ugly Lie” specifically comments on the role of media and advertising in propagating that destructive mindset. Along those same lines, I try to communicate through “Transient Identity” how the mirror is a fleeting and an inaccurate measuring tool of who a person is. “Show Your Colors” largely speaks for itself-instead of picking apart my physical appearances and attempting to conform to the impossible ideal presented in advertising, I would much rather live proudly in the bright and vibrant self God has created in me. This, my friends, is how I make art out of life.
The Ugly Lie
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Show Your Colors
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Transient Identity
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself. Harvey Fierstein
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Mystic Curls
Vynck Siegfried Belgium
The style that I developed is a response to the typical “lettrage” used by graffiti artists. Most graffiti artists normally write their names on walls, but I want to do something different, yet noticeable. Ever since I was child, I’ve been obsessed with snail houses, vortex structures, whirlpools, and undertows. I started studying these patterns and gave them my own “twist.” Using vivid colors and atypical color combinations, I try to play with the minds of the viewers. I attempt to leave a strong impression by stunning the spectators with hypnotic 3d effects of the curls. I want to show them that spraycan artists can do much more than just deface walls with unreadable signs.
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The image is more than an idea. It is a vortex or cluster of fused ideas and is endowed with energy. Ezra Pound
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Achoo! ExPress · 32
Jung Joo S. Korea
I started this piece after much research about common food allergies. I purposefully distorted and exaggerated the man’s features not only to create humor but also to show what food allergies can do to a human body. By making the background dark and shading different parts of the body with sharpies, I attempted to convey the severity of the man’s condition.
Achoo!
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A Pickled Mistake ExPress · 34
Eugyoung Han S. Korea
When I started to work with this piece, I originally wanted to raise awareness about selfesteem issues in the most abstract way possible. So, I grabbed all the books about human bodies and observed different artists’ styles, shading methods, proportions, etc. But that was when everything started to change: I decided to create a different piece, away from my original plan. I fell in love with two artists: Leonardo Da Vinci and Hans Rudolf Giger (better known as H.R Giger). Allured by Giger´s crusty-eyed, ugly babies with plump lips and captivated by Da Vinci´s sketches of human anatomy, I decided to mash bits of everything from their unique styles.
A Pickled Mistake
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Dreamy World
Ceren Findik Turkey
Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe´s “A Dream Within a Dream” Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avowYou are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sandHow few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep- while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?
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Dreamy World
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Emily Adleblute U.S.A
Mother
My childhood was almost ideal. I lived in the woods with my loving, sometimes quite playful parents in rural Pennsylvania. In my mind, I owned the woods around my quaint, private home. Always daydreaming and acting out sword fighting scenes from now classic movies, I never thought of anything dark or disturbing permeating my sanctuary. It was 1998, I was eight years old, and it was the biggest snowstorm I can remember. I loved the snow and the utter quiet that radiated from the white powder when it surrounded meW and blanketed reality with a sense of wonder. I ran into the woods, as I was keen to do on any day, especially one with so much precipitation. I walked down a lesser path, one that was mostly overgrown and definitely the most remarkable looking with all of the snow covering the roots and branches. All was quiet, as usual, but not as quiet and still as the world became when I laid eyes on the rabbit. It was ripped open; blood stained the pure snow around it. The contrast of red against stark white hurt my eyes. What could do this on such a beautiful, tranquil day and to such an innocent creature? I stared for what felt like eternity. Taking in the gore, the bones, and the squashed, once adorable face. Its tiny mouth was open in an imagined scream. I had never seen death before. That day, the woods changed. I still thought they were beautiful, but terrible at the same time. As I aged in that same house with the same woods surrounding me all the while, this became my view on the world in a much greater sense. Beauty is everywhere, and I strive to capture that natural aesthetic in my work. However, I like to remind the viewer, as the memory of the rabbit reminds me frequently, that there are heinous things lurking beneath the fa莽ade.
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My Heart is an Apple
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One love, one heart, one destiny. Bob Marley
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Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Robert Frost
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Actias Luna
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Reflection ExPress 路 48
Eugenia Otero Venezuela
This work is inspired by an interesting photograph. The theme explored in this piece is duality, showing the real versus fake in a person. The white mask represents how the person chooses to be represented externally; the reflection shows the hidden, true self of the person. I mostly used white and black charcoals to develop this black and white image.
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Trip To Costa Rica ExPress · 50
Cynthia Aguilar Mexico
The trip to Costa Rica that I’ve so looked forward to for the last eight months has come to an unbelievable close. I am definitely happy, happy to have explored and seen Costa Rica and especially to have made new friends along the way. We have certainly had many adventures as we zip lined through the trees, enjoyed the view and beautiful scenery of Costa Rica, and snorkelled in the Pacific. Zip lining was amazing; I love the wind rushing through my hair and face, the speed, and everything; it’s exhilarating! As we zip lined down through the rainforest we could enjoy the view of what felt like the entire Costa Rican landscape: endless fields, tiny trees and mountains in the distance. Also, picture an uninhabited island, in the middle of the Pacific, white sandy beaches, kayaks coasting on the sand, clear blue waves, and mountainous islands surrounding the ocean. While in Costa Rica, I could’ve sworn we were in paradise. It was while snorkelling in the immense ocean that I lost all my fears. I love being engulfed by the salty unknown while the sun hits my face. I realized that day that you can’t visit a warm country and not stop once to admire the beauty of the sea. Not only did the Pacific live up to its name, but so did Costa Rica with its amazing coast. I wish we could’ve stayed longer because going home not only means that I will return to a city in which the weather and cold have no limits. I loved every moment spent at Costa Rica, from the hot humidity when hiking up to see an incredible volcano, to spending an entire day in the comfort of the beach and even those where we were carrying woods from one location to the next. Leaving feels like I am leaving my home again. I will certainly miss everything that Costa Rica has to offer, such as the expanse of forest begging to be explored, and I’m anxious for the day when I’ll return to the safety and familiarity of a country that speaks Spanish.
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The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. Helen Keller
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Nothing is so aggravating as calmness. Mahatma Gandhi
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Renovacion de votos ExPress · 56
José Bedia Cuba
On the first of November, 2013, I had an incredible opportunity to meet Jose Bedia, a Cuban artist, at Fundacion Iturria in Montevideo, Uruguay. Despite the brevity of the meeting, we had talks relating to different techniques in which he employed in his paintings that made his pieces appear more than splats of acrylic on canvases. The rapid movement of the strokes and lines that capture the essence of the subject is truly amazing. Jose Bedia has perfected it. He produces animal figures within a single stroke; he doesn’t hesitate a moment; he just allows his hand to roam wherever it wants. Once he gets the brush on the canvas, he unleashes his inner, artistic instincts and power. At times, he incorporates forces of nature into his work. Instead of using brushes, knives or any other tool, he lets the gravity do the work. He spins, tilts, and dances with the canvases as if he is lost in a waltz. Though most of his pieces pertain to spiritualism, moral values, and nature, some of his other paintings tell a story about his personal life ranging from family matters to spiritual journeys and awakening. Some tell a heart-wrenching tale while others emit a sense of danger and solemnity. Indeed, his paintings are his voices and his life. However, most importantly, towards the end of the exhibition, all viewers will be profoundly affected: they will come to greatly appreciate the nature in which they have taken it for granted. By Jane Han
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Aquella diosa dominate ExPress 路 58
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Tu y yo siempre viviendo de prisa
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Venado Magico ExPress 路 63
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No lo puedo evitar es mi naturaleza
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Purgatorio
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We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato
En La Luz
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Pelear Todas Las Guerras
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Belleza de la fuerza bruta Historia del Animal que no quizo Aprender
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INSTALLATION
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An Imprisoned Mouth ExPress · 72
Jane Han
S. Korea “The greatest prison people live in is the fear of what other people think.” David Icke I have always wondered what it truly means to be yourself. I have always wondered why people are afraid to speak up and voice their opinions in many occasions. I have always wondered why we are desperate to conform to and fit in with society. Such mentality has put many of us in an inescapable prison without bars. It´s time to break free.
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Two Women
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DISCLAIMER Some pieces are left untitled, as the artists haven麓t speficially provided one.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to personally thank Patricio Freire, who helped edit the photos and layout. His contribution was absolutely remarkable and indispensable to the magazine. I would also like to thank Reetica Passi, who helped connect some outstanding artists to this magazine. Thank you!
CONTACT INFORMATION to submit or contact us weareteenartists@gmail.com
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Submit or contact us! weareteenartists@gmail.com
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Jos茅 Bedia, Cuban artist pg. 56
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