Two new artist books

Over the weekend, I started to create two new artist books and I just finished them last night.  I printed "The Jacket" series and "Another Me" in tintypes.  The tintype series is printed on smaller 8"x8" handmade paper.  I bought the paper as a part of a book making kit.  It originally came pre-bound as a book block.  I ended up just deconstructing the book block and printing each page individually from my printer.  The deckle-edge was what caught my eye and I found that it lent itself nicely to the tintype aesthetic.  The inner pages are of handmade paper as well.  After the prints were made, I hand-bound the book again and cased it utilizing the same wine red bookcloth that I originally made my "Another Me" series in.

The second artist book was easier to make since I've made a few like it in the past.  I bought Canson Etching Rag this time and was very pleased with the printing results.  (Last time I bought Hahnemuhle watercolor artist inkjet paper and I found that the ink would smear after some time.)  I found some retro-y inner pages and an old burnt orange book cloth for the cover.

Both books are clean and very seamless.  I can't wait to show them off at SPE!

By Any Means

This beauty is going to the Florence Quarterly Gallery at the Southwest University of Visual Arts for their latest exhibit:  By Any Means:  Alternative Photographic Processes.  The exhibit is up from March 15th to April 12th.  I was elated to find that they choose four of my tintype pieces and I knew that I would want to present them all together.  So, after one really long and bleary-eyed night staying up late trying to find suitable tintype presentations, I finally discovered the possibilities in medal display cases.

Originally I was thinking of something more traditional, with a Victorian tintype metal frame/holder, but the problem was in quantity.  Most antiqued frames hold only one tintype at a time.  I checked out some custom frames and the costs were beginning to far out-weigh my ideas...

So in came Amazon and it's lovely "Recommendations" filter running at the bottom of my searches.  (I was also looking at simple shadow box picture frames at the time.)  Once I saw the medal display case, I knew that it would work out to compliment the tintypes.  And when it came, I couldn't have been more happy.  The wood was of high quality and the glass was glass.  (Not clear acrylic!)  I love the simple latch detail and the wood color is really beautiful, bringing out the warm tones in the tintypes.  Perfect!

It took me a bit to think of the simple mounting guide.  Besides having the images smack-dab in the middle of the frame, I also wanted them evenly spaced between each other.  I finally just realized that the space that I wanted to create could easily be replicated in Photoshop as a cross, printed, cut out and placed into the frame to use as a guide for placing each tintype.

And since I didn't want the tintypes to be adhered permanently, I used Velcro to stick them onto the back of the display case.  This way, I can easily take in and out each individual tintype.

If you're in Tuscon, check out the exhibit!


This week I'm heading to SPE for the 50th Anniversary National Conference.  I'm pretty excited since last year was so spectacular.  I've made my business cards, a couple artist books and have my camera/lenses ready.  Chicago here I come!

More tintypes, new tintypes.

 

"Tracks in white snow

Trees high and low

I want to say "Hello"

To whoever made these pawprints that show"

Here are a few more tintypes that I made this week.  These images were taken over my winter break, back in New York.  I really love living in California but there are time when I miss the changing of the seasons, especially snow during the winter time.  In New York, my family's house sits on a rural plot of land with a small wooded area behind.  You'd never know that small critters and deer come in and out of the yard all the time until the snow falls and you can see the tracks.  

I love to follow them and see where they lead, occasionally stumbling on a rabbit hole or den.  Sometimes the tracks lead nowhere, as if the animal changes its mind and returns back the other way.  Mostly, it's like observing miniscule traffic patterns, with one critter going left and another going right, intersecting at some point or another. 

In other news, I have sent my re-worked midpoint tintypes to various exhibitions.  One got back to me last night and I was accepted into the Alternative Process Exhibition for the Florence Quarter Gallery at Southeast University of Visual Art in Tuscon, AZ.  The exhibit goes up from March to April and I am pretty thrilled to be one of ten artists showing alternative work.

Making the tintypes has been a great experience and I managed to finish the last four this week as well.  I'm satisfied with these new four prints and I might go back to redo a few others.  It really depends on how much tintype developer I can stand smelling before fainting.  Man oh man! Is that stuff potent!  (Think of the smelling the most extreme and condensed version of ammonia.)  I'm seriously thinking of buying a vent. mask...

Anyway, I digress...

Now that most of the images, if not all, are done, I am now thinking about tintype presentation.  It's really difficult to try and find any source material on contemporary methods of displaying tintypes, especially if it's more than just one tintype to display.  Sure, I've seen a lot of antique tintype frames and CDV album pages but they aren't exactly what I'm going for in terms of presentation.  The problem with these types of housing is the image display space.  Especially with CDV album pages, the image space is really small.  6cmx9cm is the typical size that I see and my tintypes really utilize the 4"x5" space.  I'd hate to crop out the awesome melting details.  I do however, really like the embossed paper frames that tintypes used to be housed in during Victorian times.  I've been thinking of trying that and embossing thick card stock myself and then cutting a mat within the embossed edge.  We'll see...keep you posted I guess.  ;-)

Fleeting visions

So I've had this idea for a while. 

Tin Types and my thesis imagery have always had a kind of relationship and connection.  When I first saw some of my midpoint work in tintype, I was really surprised how transported they were from my digital prints that I had made for the committee.  I have always wanted to express this idea of something non-concrete, something fading and a kind of fleeting moment with the work.  I have felt that the topic of my Korean heritage was something that wasn't ever stable but rather fleeting and transient. 

The end result of these images were something of a mistake actually.  I was washing some bad plates in the hot water and I noticed the way the imagery was melting off the plate.  And I really liked that. 

And I really like these.

And all I can think of are Stevie Wonder songs

For once, I can say, this is mine, you can't take it
As long as I know I have love, I can make it
For once in my life, I have someone who needs me.

Perhaps it's just the sentimentality of it all, but I am one happy girl, floating on cloud nine. 

On February 5th, 2013 Thom proposed to me in Rochester and I of course said yes, yes, yes!  I can say, without a doubt, I was completely surprised and taken aback.  I was already in New York by myself for about three weeks prior and at the time, I was attending an amazing photographic workshop at the George Eastman House.  On the second night, when I was checking into my hotel, I turned around to find Thom waiting in the lobby.  (He flew out from San Francisco the night prior!)  I could feel his excitement as we both made our way in the hotel to find my room, when all of sudden he proposed right their in the hallway.  It was sweet and endearing.  I was crying and he was shaking, forgetting the speech that he had prepared in his mind and instead, saying something that was so much more real and truthful.  But they were exactly the right words and I didn't hesitate to give him that simple and lifelong answer, yes.

Thom and I had discussed making this commitment in the past and we have even looked at engagement rings over a year ago.  But this ring, Thom found and chose on his own.  I really couldn't be happier with it.  The center opal is fiery and full of life.  Every turn of my hand and the color changes.  The opal is set around some hand cut diamonds, each individually shaped and procured.  And the band is made of rose gold, my favorite kind which speaks of an older time and place.  The ring itself is over 100 years old and was probably made in the Victorian era.  I love the idea of a piece handed down over time and I think of this ring as one of kind.

 

I want to thank everyone that has reached out to us and shared our profound happiness and elation.  We can't wait to start this new chapter of our lives.  And it is all of you, you, and YOU, you know who you are, that makes us want to keep celebrating and sharing our love for a lifetime.

The Red Bag

Now that I am home, I have decided to take advantage of the snow.  Though I really can only stand about an hour outside in that thin little hanbok, I find that I have become quite efficient in planning everything out beforehand.

Personally, I like this image digital.  I can't really see it as a gum print.  So until I do, I don't really see this image in the series but again, the truth remains to be seen!  I have decided to include a small excerpt from where this image is based from: 

There once lived a young boy that would love to have stories told to him.  Every story he heard, he kept in a red bag so that they were all in one place.  Over the years the number of stories grew and the bag became heavy trying to keep them all in.  The bag was so full that the stories grew uncomfortable with lack of space.  This caused much anger and resentment from the neglected stories and they soon longed to seek revenge on the boy who was now a man.

The story goes on to tell a larger adventure of how they managed to escape but what I chose to focus on is the idea of holding onto bitter feelings, keeping them with you, and finally just letting them go.  I wanted to show weight of holding on to these negative feelings one can bear, so I used black stones to pour out of the bag.  The wintery scene creates a blank slate, an open mind and sense of acceptance.  The pine tree remains a symbol of hope and steadfast faith that has followed throughout the series.  And all of this ties back into my thesis and my feelings on my adoption.

Methods (Alternative)

Right before Christmas, I was accepted into the 2013 Kiernan Gallery exhibit called, Methods (Alternative).  Christopher James was the juror and he selected one of my thesis images printed as a tri-color gum bichromate.  I really love this image and I am happy to see it gain this kind of attention, especially from Mr. James!  (A fellow alternative process pioneer who has created the ULTIMATE historical/alternative process book!) 

The gallery follows traditional exhibition standards and only allows for black frames and white mats.  Ideally I would have purchased another weathered barnwood frame and I would have float mounted the piece behind glass.  But since I couldn't do that, I opted for a textured black wooden frame and placed the image behind 8-ply off-white mat board.  

I'm happily surprised to find that the image looks great and very finished behind black.

The Kiernan Gallery is located in Lexington, VA.  And the show begins January 30th!  Along with my work are the amazing works of artists that I admire and look up to.  If you get a chance, check out their work here.