“biology nerd glyph”; printer ink, brush pen, pen on watercolor paper; 9″ x 12″
Biology was one of my least favorite classes in high school, but I’m throwing biology nerd gang signals right now because word’s out on the street that it’s the cool thing to do.
I’m going to be in the Project Dispatch show, Part and Parcel, opening next week at DC’s The Fridge (^▼^). Please come and check it out!
PART AND PARCEL
OPENING: DECEMBER 10, 8-11 PM
Work by Frank Adams, Keli Anaya, Deborah Anzinger, Chris Chen, Rachel England, Jessica Ford, Elizabeth Graeber, Becca Kallem, Chandi Kelley, Regan Kireilis-Helms, Stephanie Kwak, Jon Lee, Dana Maier, and Kristoffer Tripplaar
The Fridge, 516 8th Street SE, REAR ALLEY
Here are some up close and personal shots of my work you might be able to see there. You will have to go The Fridge yourself to see what I have lurking there in their full, possibly bodacious, entireties.
AH, I’ve been gone for far too long! I kept meaning to update this but got caught up in inventing a cosmic webcam (result posted above), staring at cats, tangling out dreads from my hair, and the daily hullabaloo of just existing.
Here is a short music mix for you, a musical shout out to drowsy people everywhere who like to sleep in but can’t for whatever reason. I’ve been listening to this + kpop the past few weeks (more on the kpop later). Enjoy!
“mountainous”; watercolor, brush pen, and pen on paper; 9 x 12″
German watercolors are DA BOMB. I wept with joy as I was making this.
In a seasonal funk, which means no time for blogging (though plenty of time for Internet-ing), and lots of time wanting to curl up like a cat and wear a lot of scarves and scowl at people.
Liam the Cat all snuggled up in my laundry pile, which I should probably clean up and organize soon. A very authentic catnap.
Bonus pictures! (courtesy of a few spare minutes and Microsoft Paint):
This is a picture of myself buried (like Ryan Reynolds) under a jacket and a giant scarf, suffocation level at 40%, holding a cup of coffee and wanting to take a catnap.
This is a picture of myself throwing a tantrum because, though I am really sleepy, I drank too much coffee or soda and am thus unable to take a catnap.
“slow wave”; pen, watercolor, marker on bristol; 9 x 12″
Feeling really sleepy lately, gonna ride a wave to sleep and non-drowsiness. But, I gotta put some drawing paper and some pens on that surfboard. Plus, my latest obsession: my sewing machine…!
(left) shortened linen skirt from Seoul (bought a decade ago lolol), (right) skirt I made from fabric I bought two years at Tokyu Hands (using this Childhood Flames guide)
I’m slowly getting better at sewing , but I kept messing up the hemming on the linen skirt, so I just decided to go with it and made some colorful, not-quite-straight hems.
**
It feels goooooooooood to use things I’ve had for years but have been sitting on chairs and in cold, dark closets all this time. I almost want to get out a hula hoop and hula hoop my joy, but a) I don’t own a hula hoop, and b) I’m extremely unskilled at hula-hooping.
Best yet, I have some ideas for sewing (in a drawing-esque way) on found materials. Updates on that soon, after a couple of naps and a couple cans of soda.
Here is what I sent out for September’s Project Dispatch:
“my blanket is my island”; ink & brushpen on watercolor paper; 9 x 12″
Aaaand speaking of Project Dispatch, Chandi & Frank did such a lovely job at Hampdenfest. This is me inside the PD tent at Hampdenfest, staring at the green line that my phone camera always adds to every photo:
**
This month so far has turned out to be a rather busy one, full of cats (well, one cat) & school & work & drawing & breaking in new shoes & scratching at insect bites. Tomorrow, for instance, on Sept. 17th, I’ll be at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore furiously drawing from 7:30 to 8:30pm.
I like drawing a lot & I like art events, but I’m not a person who likes to be a busy bee (I’m one of those people who likes to drink tea and likes to drink that tea slowly). So, it’s nice in this tender month of feeling busy-ish to get something GLORIOUS in the mail and get to spend some time out drinking tea and reading zines. YES TO ZINES! (zines by Anna + a Stanley Lieber comic I lent to Anna a couple of years ago). YES TO SCRUNCHIES (made by Anna and Mika)! YES TO ANNA! College friends turned Japan-dwelling turned mail friends are the best.
“hand-generated computer art”; 4.5 x 6.25″; computer ink & pen on paper
“hand-generated computer art 0101: there are 10 types of people in the world — those who understand binary and those who don’t”; computer ink & pen on watercolor paper; 5.5 x 8.5″ (thank you to bigzom for helping me with the title)
Drawing geometry is infinitely better without rulers or compasses!
These will be up at Hampdenfest this Saturday. Hopefully, any residue computer ink smeared on my hands will be less noticeable by then. I am a little worried about my lifespan now that I’m working with computer ink & accidentally dripping it all over myself and, you know, livin’ on the edge, but I’ll try to more careful next time.
The art subscription service I’m a member of, Project Dispatch, will be making a grand splish-splash in my neck of the woods this weekend at Hampdenfest in Baltimore.
On Saturday, September 10 from 10am – 7pm, you can roam the streets of Hampden (well, one street, to be exact; it’s “The Avenue” on 36th Street), nosh on food, slurp on drinks, and admire Baltimore’s DIY-ish kookiness. At the Project Dispatch booth, you can get art to start yourself on a mail subscriptions and nab some zines & books.
I will be there, too! Probably scurrying around like the mouse or chinchilla that I am, scavenging for tasty morsels to chew down. After all, I can’t survive on packaged food pellets alone.
Oh, and I really hope Dan Deacon makes an appearance. Last time I saw him (and please note, I don’t actually know him, and he was probably weirded out that Bigzom & I were standing in a corner, gaping at his outfit in awe) he was wearing red shorts with bright blue shorts and looked like the inverse of Bart Simpson. That is, if Bart Simpson is A/B, he was B/A. Dan Deacon is the inverse of fraction Bart Simpson.
My artwork will also be featured in the Project Dispatch booth. Here is one of the pieces that will be there:
“rainbow geometric”; 5.5 x 8.5″; ink & pen on watercolor paper
“Crystal Cavern”; 5 x 7″; ink & pen on paper
“I’m hungry”; 5.5 x 8.5″; watercolor & ink & pen & marker on watercolor paper
I have the “Hurricane Sickness” — some weird blend of flu-like symptoms + belly aches that came out of being holed up inside with a computer so long (was trying to get a better hang of digital drawing & I was also playing video games) and eating too many sweets during Hurricane Weekend.
I was able to rid myself of some of the computer/Internet surfing-induced nausea by a traditional drawing session. I know I complain sometimes about my wrists feeling all shaky and tired after one too many drawing marathons, but in the end it’s pretty therapeutic and calming and probably adds a lot of years to my life that sitting too much takes away. Wait, does drawing count as sitting? I mean, I do sit when I draw, but…oh, snap.
Anyway, perhaps the worst thing about catching the flu/whatever-this-thing-is is that I can’t enjoy any of the foods I normally like. In “I’m hungry”, the Cat Power-esque girl is staring at beautiful photos of food on the Internet (like those photos on Smitten Kitchen) and dreaming about the following:
OK, now I’m sad I can’t eat any of these things right now. Time to grab some chicken noodle soup…
This blog is meant to capture the things I draw/make.
Tell me secrets/information/?s/etc here:
sk@stephaniekwak.com
