My Line Is Emo – Final Submission

“What did you have for lunch, today?” my girlfriend asks
“Nasi Lemak, but I didn’t really like everything they gave,” I replied

And boom, that’s how this inspiration came about.

If there’s anything that fills me with a complex flurry of emotion (slightly less than school) is food. There’s stories and memories attached to food, there is things associated to food and there’s some taste of food gives me complex emotions.

So presenting “My Nasi Lemak of Feels”.

SADNESS

Guilt
the fact of having committed a specified or implied offence or crime.
Hand-pressed black paper onto painted rice and bowl. Scratched with fork dipped in white acrylic paint.  

Rice reminds me of home, and when I think of rice I strangely feel an overwhelming amount of sadness. I decided to relate this with a childhood memory where I dropped a glass bowl of rice and it just shattered. Mother was of course, unhappy  about this and till today – I still feel a little guilty when I see food on the floor. 

I started by lining a piece of paper with rice, then painted over it. This resulted in a sort of ‘stamp’ as a base and I lined a black paper over it. I chose a faded-ish hand pressed look that using a machine to press it, then decided to tell the story with using curved lines to imply the bowls and scratches to symbolic of the utencils.

Details of sadness strip

Overall, it tells a simple story of guilt when you drop a plate of food (which is honestly, quite sad on it’s own), but the faded print of the rice is to show a sense of nostalgia to the past, and also, the fact that I miss home very much.

But honestly, I’m still pretty clumsy and I still drop many things. 

ANGER

Irritation
the state of feeling annoyed, impatient, or slightly angry.
Newsprint wrapped around cut/slice/carved cucumber

I do not like vegetables – and what annoys me more than a piece of cucumber ruining a perfectly good plate of nasi lemak, IS PEOPLE POINTING OUT I DID NOT EAT MY VEGETABLES (and proceed to tell me the healthy benefits of it).

Most definitely not a torture scene.

Inspired by lino cutting done in class, I decided a budget person like me could use a 55-cents cucumber as my lino mat and a dollar-fifty screwdriver as my carving tools It started out with little flower-like images but I realized this cucumber isn’t going to look grungy on it’s own. So i vented my anger by stabbing and slicing lines on the cucumber with a screwdriver. I then wrapped the newsprint around the cucumber to create the prints.

I realized however, that it gave a consistently dark look throughout the strip, so I decided to give slight variation to the strip to emphasize the dark by stamping, rolling and tossing the cucumber around.

It was oddly theraputic, yet strangely kinky.

Details of line

This resulted in occasional gaps in the strip in shapes of flowers. This was a symbol of well intentioned words turning out to be very annoying to me. The grungy texture of the paper evokes a sense of frustration.

And stabbing a cucumber was strangely a way to release stress whilst I was working through the night. 

FEAR

Dread
 to feel extreme reluctance to meet or face
Collage of painted paper with silver paper onto transparency sheet

Being a malay mix, I didn’t inherit all the perks of being a malay  – one such perk I did not inherit, is good tolerance of spicy food.

“But Fendi, Japanese people eat wasabi all the time too!” You retort. Well, yes, I can take wasabi, but wasabi is not exactly spicy. The biggest bummer of that is not enjoying a good plate of nasi lemak because they put sambal in contact with my rice, egg, or just mixed it together with ikan bilis. When they do, I attempt to challenge the spicy levels, and when I do — oops. Too late.

I decided to convey this emotion through collage in a shape of a wave, to symbolize the flurry of spiciness and negative thoughts crashing on me when I take spicy food. I used rejected paper from the previous strip to convey this emotion as there is a sort of grungy good mix or dark against lights to covey the wave of negative thoughts.

At first, it didn’t turn out full of depth, as I decided to use different textures of paper and it turned out quite well, kind of like a ransom note look. But wait, where’s the sense of dread? I thought, and I decided to place a piece of reflective strip to symbolize me, dwarfed against a giant wave of spice and negativity incoming. I then decided to transfer this collage onto a sheet of transparency as it showed the shape of the waves better, and when put against a background, the shape really becomes distinct.

JOY

Fuzzy
being, relating to, or invoking pleasant and usually sentimental emotions
Chinese ink on fabric

Eggs make me happy – there’s so many ways to cook them – fried, sunny side up, scrambled, hard boiled. Yum. I have been eating a lot of eggs since I was a kid till my mum imposed a limit of one egg a day or I’d suffer high cholesterol. Somehow eating eggs reminds me of my childhood.

I conveyed this through cloth as i felt dirtying a piece of cloth reminds me of the days when I was a child and dirties my shirts with painting. I arranged the flurry of shapes in random order, with emphasis on circles and curved lines to as a way to show freedom. Each shape holds a childhood memory I feel fuzzy for – circles being home-cooked eggs, crosses being stargazing, upwards arrows being home and fireworks being the smell of flowers.

However, the most prominent thing that I felt displayed fuzziness was the material of the base and the way it interacted with the ink – when it took the ink the little ‘hairs’ on the cloth seem to evoke a strong sense of fuzziness to it – showing it literally. 

Surprise

Shocked
a feeling of disturbed surprise resulting from a sudden upsetting event.
Pressed acrylic-painted plastic bags and chinese ink for lines onto cartridge

When I first saw ikan bilis, I had no idea what it was. It was just this bunch of dried tiny fishes that scattered on my plate. My dad told me to try it and described it as “saltier potato chips”. I was quite surprised that it was actually not that bad. I decided to convey this emotion through this line

This is a mix of using plastic bag to make white and black marks together with a flat brush to draw the lines. I felt that in order for there to be a shock, there needs to be order, and once that order is disrupted – there is shock. I conveyed this through a series of lines as it looks like ikan bilis, and it’s the simplest way to convey the idea of order, like a squad in formation. The explosion is a mix of black and white paint and subtly decorated with black lines in a cacophony. This is the changed expectation, and surprise – like a flurry of new information coming in when what you thought is shattered.

LOVE

Desire
strongly wish for or want (something)
Chicken Skin in Chinese Ink and finger painting with ink pad.

I love Fried Chicken, and it’s one of the biggest thing I look forward to when eating Nasi Lemak. If there’s one thing I could eat for a very long time it will be fried chicken. I decided to convey this semi-obsession for it through sticking chicken skin onto the paper then doing finger prints on it to show the idea of wanting to get my hands on what I desire. 

When I pitched the idea of crave or wanting or passion, my friends pointed out the fingers looked like matchsticks and it conveyed the idea of ‘igniting’ something. So I combined the idea to show the idea of passion ignited as well. Passion for food.

Originally, the plan was to use chicken skin as the base, however – I learnt that raw chicken smelt bad after 2 hours, and in order to save the class that idea was scrapped. But I was genuinely impressed with the way skin interact with skin.

Final Composite

Overall, I wanted to show the flurry of emotions that a simple dish could overwhelm me with, I show this by firstly, exploring different bases – such as felt, cartridge, transparency, newsprint, black paper, and initially even skin.

When arranging the order of the pieces, I paid attention to show the range of emotions that each dish offered by considering how the colors juxtaposed yet emphasized each other – for example in board 1 there is a variation in texture, dominant color, composition, and form (some being very curated and some being very expressive).  I wanted to show that each dish and each line is different.

Reflection

I’ve learnt from this assignment to think abstractly, to look at emotions and objects as it’s basic shapes, lines, texture, form and composition. Being challenged to look at emotions monochromatically and to think outside the box was exciting. I learnt about different artist’s styles and how they deconstructed everyday images to it’s fundamental shapes and lines allowed me to think abstractly in my work.

I’ve also learnt to think about different mediums – apart from a pencil, pen, ink, paper. I’ve learnt to look at newsprint, cartridge, cloth, tape, chinese ink. I was exposed a range of different types of medium and paper I never knew about and how each and every one reacted differently to each other. I learnt to push the boundaries and venture into mixed mediums to create different layers to the image.

I also learnt apart from making marks on the paper to also embrace space – positive space and negative space. Space allows texture, shape and form to shine. There is a stark difference between plastering the entire paper in a print and just placing it in the middle – each conveys a different message, mood and idea.

After recieving feedback from my classmates, I think I can improve in one line in particular – fuzziness. Working with felt was a new experience for me and I think it showed as there was a few doubts about what more I could have used felt for. It was fun experimenting with a new medium, however I think I could have utilized the texture more effeciently, perhaps looking into sewing or cutting felt to create shape would be interesting, too.

Overall, this was an interesting experience that exposed me to different mediums and ways of thinking about a concept down to it’s fundamentals.

Bonus points to those who noticed my mark making shirt

Okay bye

My Line is Emo – Research and Process

CONCEPT

“Have you eaten?” is a very common question I ask people, but when one day I was ask that – I realized, hey, food gives me a complex flurry of emotions. So I looked into how food made me feel.

I started by exploring different dishes I have on Nasi Lemak, and started writing down how I feel when I taste, see, smell, think of it – whether I have a fear, anticipation, love, memory or taste I cannot take. I narrowed down on those with strong imagery attached to it as well as showing a diverse range of emotion.

SADNESS

RESEARCH

Here are some concepts for Rice as sadness

1. Guilt – Not finishing food, guilt-eating, dropping food on the floor, uneaten leftovers.
2. Homesickness – missing home-cooked food, missing Japanese food, missing the taste of freshly made food, special taste in home cooked food.
3. Mundane/Bored – Eating rice everyday, repetitive food in school, mundaneness in rice after rice, being an asian staple food.

Some imagery of rice include; numerous grains, small, dots, white, starchy, chewy, hard, like glass when uncooked.

Untitled by Charlotte Posenenske

I was intrigued by this composition, the use of negative space and the way it slowly gradients to nothing – I felt this shows the concept of ‘guilt eating’ and slowly losing something – whether it’s the memory of homecooked food or the enjoyment of rice over time.

House #7 by Dragana Crnjak

For this concept, I was most inspired by the work of Crnjak D. I was intrigued by the look of longing and faded memory his drawings conveyed. It feels like falling rocks and the use of negative space seem to evoke a sense of solitude, loneliness, or ‘in your own world’-ism to it.

PROCESS

Left – Rice on Linocut mat, pressed under machine
Right – Dragged rice painted in acrylic paint

I played with different ways to incorporate painted rice into my concept. The two most interesting print was placing rice on linocut mat and dragging painted rice.

I was intrigued by the way the rice shaped as pressed onto the paper at the top left, however the middle seem to look ink blotty and did not seem to convey the idea I want.

Dragging painted rice seem to show a rice field look to it, which I found it visually intriguing, however it didn’t really seem to convey the right story. Which was… a little of a bummer.

Journal page on various methods of printing rice

I realized doing a press on rice seem to evoke the idea of guilt – as the faded look from doing a hand-press than a machine-press shows a subtle sense of longing and homesickness/memory idea to it.

For the rest of the process, look at final work

ANGER

RESEARCH

I listed the concepts of vegetable as anger.

1. Irritation – people telling me to eat vegetables, even when I clearly do not like them, people pointing out I didn’t finish my food because vegetables, vegetables not tasting nice, guilting me into eating vegetable, not enjoying a plate cause too much vegetables.
2. Annoyance – Vegetables looks gross, but why must it be part of a balanced died. I think of NS when I see vegetables.
3. Rage – Parents forcing me to eat vegetable or I cannot play (when I was a kid), not having anything to eat except vegetables, GRR.

Some imagery of cucumber/vegetables include – leafy, organic, lots of braches, trees, plant, juicy, pulpy, hard, cold, gross.

PROCESS

Different results of mark making with a single cucumber

I started with various ways a cucumber could make prints – I was amazed one tool could create 4 different textures. I was inspired by the flowery texture the tips created and the grungy texture created by the skin. I thought combining these two textures against each other was a strong juxtaposition.

For the rest of the process, look at final work

FEAR

RESEARCH

I do not like Sambal. I figured fear and dread were strongly related to spicy foods and started to conceptualize from that thought.

Dread – Having a wave of negative thoughts,

Reluctance – Not wanting to eat it, cause I know what’s going to happen, avoiding the dishes it touches because spicy food

Phobia – Scared of spicy food, avoid it at all cost

PROCESS

I explored with fumage-ing at first, as I associate spicy food with fire – burning your lips, tongue, intestines, stomach and everything it touches. I originally burnt a little hole at my paper at first, but then I’d thought that was interesting thing to play with so I continued burning the paper.

Ultimately, the idea was rejected as it did not convey the technique of mark making hard enough, so I went back to the drawing board and thought about how else I could show the idea of dread, fear and reluctance. Then I thought about the scary waves I made with shaving cream as well as the wave like paper cut I experimented (both of which, was also a rejected idea)

I realized if I put all the rejected ideas together with the concept of collages and playing with crushing paper I tried.

And somehow, the shape of The Great Wave of Kanagawa appears in my head.

The Great Wave of Kanegawa by Katsushika Hokusai

How did it happen, I’ve no idea. I wanted to replicate the grandeur of the wave and the way it seems to consume the boats in my concept

For the rest of the process, look at final work

JOY

RESEARCH

Eggs gave me a sentimental feeling of home – and it’s a good thing. I thought about what warmth eggs filled me with (literally and figuratively, of course) and conceptualize the various things eggs remind me of.

1. Joy – Egg is the easiest thing to cook, and yet very versatile. I never grow tired of eggs.

2. Fuzziness – Remembering my childhood, where I ate eggs a lot. Reminds me of home cooked food.

3. Warmth – Literal warmth in my mouth, homely-ness when eating eggs

I was told to look at the works of Cy Twombly to figure out the techniques he used to simplify concepts, objects and ideas into it’s fundamental shapes and lines – this work in particular.

The Song of the Border-Guard 1952 Cy Twombly

In this painting, he breaks down a chariot rider into it’s fundamental shapes, with circles being wheels, the semi circle being the chariot and the inverted D being the charioteer. I conveyed this concept into my line, breaking down what eggs remind me of into it’s fundamental shapes and lines

PROCESS

Felt was not the first choice I had in mind when I did this concept, my first concept was to used bubbles

me trying very hard not to drink ink, which looks suspiciously to grass jelly.

I felt that using bubbles conveyed a look similar to the eggs I have at breakfast when I was a child. Typical Singaporean breakfast my dad calls it.

I broke down what I miss into their fundamental shapes
Home – Roof – Upwards Triangle
Fireworks I saw from my window at my old house – Firework – Stars
Freedom – Spirals
Eggs/Breakfast – Circles

Ultimately this ideas rejected as it was mentioned that a lot of people have and will probably utilize this method. So I looked into an alternative material but a similar concept…

For the rest of the process, look at final work

SURPRISE

RESEARCH

Unlike the others, the concept for surprise was based on one distinct memory I had when I was a child – which was my dad telling me ‘ikan bilis is saltier potato chips’. Naive me, haven’t eaten it before until then – decides to try it and there was PLENTY of surprise.

Imagery related to Ikan Bilis – Tiny, small short lines, small curved likes, crunchy, hard, salty.

PROCESS

I utilized my initial rejected idea of rorschach tests to create an explosive effect against an organized line.

I realized it was very difficult to predict how the rorschach will turn out and I looked for alternatives, then I saw a plastic bag hanging by my cabinet and I thought — I wonder how that will look.

For the rest of the process, look at final work

LOVE

RESEARCH

Here are some concept for Love for Fried Chicken. (I assure you, it’s a healthy obsession).

1. Longing – Wanting to eat, craving for it, itchy mouth to eat it when walking past KFC.
2. Passion – Immediate joy and bliss when eating. The indescribable feeling of overwhelming joy, I really like fried chicken
3. Desire – Wanting to eat it, thinking about it at 3am while doing OSS.

PROCESS

After consultation, I relooked the concept and decided to show desire and passion as a form of skin-on-skin. Fingerpainting with an ink pad shows hands and sliding them along the paper shows the movement of hands. I explored various ways to slide my fingers as well as different composition. My classmate pointed out it looked like matchsticks and I could play around with the idea of ‘sparking’ a love or the like.

I finalized my concept on showing desire as a form of skin-on-skin contact, a very gentle wanting and ‘sparking’ a love by combining the idea of skin of the chicken against the skin of my fingertips.

For the rest of the process, look at final work

My Line is Emo – My first Mark Making Lesson

Hello World!

Today I learnt how to make fancy schmancy print with linocut and experimented with various techniques. I decided to focus on one part of my assignment – rice and how they made me feel (but a full story on that another time).

I began  experimenting with different mark making methods, starting with manually pressing the rice onto newsprint by hand, then by using a roller. The results were very faded and sometimes the rice shifts around and it printed twice. It created this ghostly effect that I was initially not fond of as it made the rice spooky.

I then decided to experiment with the pressing machine thing (which I now do not recall the name of, so let’s call it a linocut pressing-inator) and this created a more solid print which really shows the rice’s shape, and also crushed some of my rice grains (rest in peace my little friends).


Row 1 by machine, row 2 by roller, row 3 by hand. 

I started to appreciate the hand-pressing method as it conveyed my mood better and that faded look seem to tell more of a story than a solid smashed rice look. This three prints, of course, came after many trial and errors – there were various other exploration with chinese ink, acrylic and block printing paint, which are in my sketchbook.

Secondly, I experiments with linocut. I have not been the best at crafts, but I guess that’s the fun of experimenting – you’re allowed to be bad at it… right. But I created little rice prints on it before putting in under the linocut pressing-inator the result is a little splotchy stamp with loads of negative space – at first I was a little irked by the little splotches of white and the parts that did not transfer properly, but my professor said to embrace the little flaws. and eventually I came to like it.

My classmate said it looked like raindrops (when I kinda intended for it to look like rice) but then, same same lah.

I learnt to about various other mediums that can create interesting print and how there are so many variables that come into play when mark making – firstly the tools are not just confined to brushes, pen and markers – some of my classmates experimented with leaves, branches, sponges and even their own fingers! I learnt that mark making is as wide as your imagination and with that I learnt to be inspired by things around me a little more – how seashells have their own unique markings and how leaves when pressed create prints that resemble fireworks.

I also learnt that the material you work with also affect the look – newsprint is a lot more absorbent than drawing block. I was also suggested to experiment with white cloth or paper towels – which I think will be really cool. Understanding how each and every base reacts to your material lets you create more beautiful prints too!

Lastly I learnt art is about having fun. As a child there was always a curious and creative side to me that is lost over the years from trying to create interesting and aesthetic art. I really like this project cause it lets me go back to my childhood days where art was play and not as stressful.

It feels great to be excited to create again. 

Okay bye.