August 2016 – Natasha Lim

Memory Drawing

Foundation 2D – In our last 2D lesson, we were given an emotion and prompted to think about a memory that links up to that emotion – then to close our eyes and use our non-dominant hand to draw, expressively, what we felt.

Happy - in a time where "hey, want to hang out?" was not yet found in text messages, she knocked on the dusty glass panels of the window to class during recess, calling for me, wanting to spend time with me - and in that moment I felt what it was like to feel affection. — Happy – in a time where “hey, want to hang out?” was not yet found in text messages, she knocked on the dusty glass panels of the window to class during recess, calling for me, wanting to spend time with me – and in that moment I felt what it was like to feel affection.

Emotion: Happy

Medium: 4B graphite pencil

Words that come to mind when looking at the end product: yelling man, faces, conflict

Yes, it doesn’t look like the happiest “happy” drawing that I could have done. In my defence, it was the first drawing we did, so part of the reason was because I was still warming up; on the other hand, it is completely my fault because I chose what one would call a bittersweet memory. There’s a lot of conflict, a sense of loss and longing involved in this memory – probably not the best memory, heh.

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Adventure on the Day 1

Foundation 4D – Our first class activity: the photo scavenger hunt! Yes, I probably should have posted this before the previous post, but better late than never, I suppose. I believe that, as much as possible, photographs should adopt a “show not tell” stance, so I won’t be elaborating much on the more self-explanatory photographs.

01 - Something that is not "NTU" at all — 01 – Something that is not “NTU” at all

No, seriously, who expects a K-cut at NTU? The whole North Spine came as an unexpected (and pleasant) surprise, although while the Supermarket was within the realms of my imagination, the hairdresser was not.

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4D Assignment 1 – Brief Project Brief

Foundation 4D – When I first heard about making the project brief, I have to admit that I got a bit carried away. The following OSS contains what I presented in class, and perhaps a bit more.

One of the reasons why I did the brief in Keynote is because it helps me to think, organise my ideas. I have a separate journal where I do extremely rough mind-maps, but beyond that being able to rearrange and present my ideas coherently (with accompanying visuals & reference) is of great importance to me, which is why I had decided on moving my process online. ~~And also, between you and I, because I think comic sans is hilarious.~~

What am I concerned about?

This is the question that I asked myself as I began this work. I always feel that art and art-making should be as personal as possible – it is, after all, a process of insight into the human condition.

We make art about what concerns us, in hopes of communicating a message. So, what am I concerned about, what am I inspired by?

Communication – which means elements of interaction, means to engage the audience, such as space & sound will be important in this video (installation)
Religion/Relationship, Belief, Conviction – Eternity
Self-Image, Appearances, Security

Below, I’ll expand a bit more about concepts 2 & 3, since 1 is merely one of my guidelines.

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On Mark-making & Exploring

Foundation 2D – Today, we brought our mark-making tools that we prepared to class. I wasn’t too sure what to prepare, so here’s what I brought:

Picture 1: a cream cracker, the most perfect walnut in my entire walnut stash, bubble-wrap

Picture 1: From left to right: ribbon, cotton, synthetic rope, thumbtack, cardboard

I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but class did not disappoint: automatic drawing!

Expressionistic gestures come quite naturally for me. Of course, given that it’s difficult to apply formalistic language to expressionistic works, it’s difficult for me to benchmark myself and compare one gesture to another. Someone wise once said that we are our own worst critic, something that is particularly true to me as I hold myself to high expectations. It’s quite liberating to turn off the critical voice in my head, just create and enjoy the process.

Below are the things that I did during class today. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!

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