for sale

i’m showing this drawing at a group show, ‘flatlanders’ at mendel art gallery in saskatoon. (september 19 - january 2009)

i made new postcards of these wooden head drawings.  they will be available soon from my online shop.

‘i’ve got a splitting headache’ (2008)
(click the image to view a closeup)

i’m taking part in a group show titled ‘flatlanders - saskatchewan artists on the horizon‘ opening this week at the mendel art gallery here in saskatoon.  the show is curated by dan ring and the new assistant curator, jen budney.  18 emerging artists were chosen from the province of saskatchewan, exhibiting a wide range of media including ceramics, video, printmaking, photography, paintings, drawings, sculpture and installation.  you can read more about the show on the mendel gallery’s current exhibitions page.

i’m showing seven new drawings, all featuring wooden heads.  none of my work for the show has appeared online yet.  i’ll be putting images on my blog over the next few days.

two of the artists are japanese — kiyoko-san and me.  kiyoko-san does very beautiful abstract paintings and i draw bleeding heads or breeding heads. i think it’s cool we immigrants are part of this exhibit.

the opening reception for the ‘flatlanders’ show is tonight, from 8 pm until 12am.   i’ll be there, at least for the early hours (before i have to take elijah home for bed).  if you’re around in saskatoon tonight, please come and check out the show and chat with me :)

i’ll also be taking part in a panel discussion with the other artists in the show saturday at 2pm.  if you’re interested in listening to my nonsense talk, please come.

the show runs until january 4th.

FLATLANDERS:
Saskatchewan Artists on the Horizon

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, September 26 at 8pm
ARTIST SALON: Saturday, September 27 at 2pm

Mendel Art Gallery
950 Spadina Crescent East
Saskatoon, SK
Phone 306.975.7610

9 am to 9 pm daily
Closed Christmas Day
December 24 (Christmas Eve) 9 am to 5 pm
December 31 (New Year’s Eve) 9 am to 5 pm
FREE ADMISSION

(’20/20′, 2006)

tonight is an opening of a group show at douglas udell gallery in edmonton.  i’m showing the drawing above and 6 other drawings.  i was planning to go to the opening reception, but i’ve been sick and now elijah got sick as well.  so we won’t be able to go.  but if you are around in edmonton, please go to the opening and see the show!

the show will be travelling across canada.  the next stop will be at the douglas udell gallery in vancouver, opening saturday, september 27th.  after that, my drawings will be shown at the toronto international art fair (oct 2 - 6).  this is the first time these drawings have been shown outside of saskatoon, so i’m very excited.

the other six drawings i’m showing are:

chicken breasts

bird eat bird

under the sun

the great escape

swing

reedllik

the are some of my precious old favorite drawings, finally for sale.  if you’re interested in buying one, please contact the gallery.

Douglas Udell Gallery

Edmonton/Alberta
10332-124 street
ph: 780-488-4445

Tue-Sat 9:30-5:30 and by appointment

Vancouver/BC
1558 West 6th Avenue
ph: 604-736-8900

Tue-Sat 10:00-6:00 and by appointment

i’m taking part in a group show called “paper pushers” at gallery 1988 in san francisco.  i’m showing eight pencil drawings (click here to see six of them).

the show opening is tonight.  i hope my readers in san francisco can stop by and see the show!

paper pushers
an annual show featuring all works on paper

august 15 - september 6, 2008
opening reception: friday august 15th ( 7 - 10pm)

1173 sutter street (at polk), san francisco
ph. 415.409.1376
www.gallery1988.com

i’m taking part in a group show called “ahhhhhhh!ha” at the helm gallery in tacoma.  if you’re around in this area, please drop by.

 June offers the boisterous group show Ahhhhhhh!!! Ha. The show will feature nine artists who work with themes of distortion, humor, fantasy, death and the cute.
Sesame Street will meet Super Mario Land on its way over to the Millenium Falcon. Kids will poke themselves with scissors. Cakes and Creampuffs will float in the sky and the mods will dance on them. A big bang will exclaim failure. Monsters and monsters and monsters will eat your face while Mudman comes to town. All the dead birds in the world will congregate. A giant furry thing will get trapped in a pink net. It’s dark. It’s kinda gross. It’s implausible. It’s strangely attractive. It’s worthy of an Ahhhhhhh!!! and a Ha.

Please come to the opening reception June 19th from 5 to 10PM. Bring your dancing shoes.

Artists::

Sean Alexander

Susan Belle

Rumi Koshino

Jasper Kreiger

Jeremiah Maddock

Natalie Miller

Jason Reamer

Yuka Yamaguchi

760 S Broadway, Tacoma, WA

253.627.8845

elijah’s separation anxiety began when he was eight months old. in japanese, we call this period ‘ato-oi’, which literally means ‘after-follow’. he began to follow me around wherever i would go. even when i was in his sight and someone else was holding him, he immediately would start crying and reach out to me. it is/was really, really touching and awfully adorable.

i try to stay close to him so he won’t feel insecure. he wants to be picked up and held all the time, so i do that. when i need to go to the next room, i let him know that i’m going. i try not to disappear without saying anything. he always stops what he’s doing and crawls after me. for some reason, if i get down on the floor and crawl out of the room, he doesn’t react anxiously. maybe he thinks i’m off to catch some salmon. it’s all part of the bear game, my friend.

recently, he started to follow after paul, too. he chased after paul when he entered the bathroom. so i thought it might be a time to teach him that papa and mama are around even when you can’t see them.

it’s kind of embarrassing to tell you this, but i’ve been leaving the bathroom door open when i take a shower in the morning. i put elijah in the playpen and move it down the hall in front of the bathroom so that he can see me. as soon as i would get in the shower, he would start crying, and he’d keep crying his head off the whole time. from time to time, i would stick my head (covered in shampoo) outside the shower curtain and say “daijyo-bu! mama kokoni iruyo!” (it’s okay, mama’s here!). he would cry even harder. :D after a couple of try, i stopped hearing his crying. he started to play with toys.

this is one of the drawings for ‘100 stories’ at hosfelt gallery in NYC.

100 stories

photographs by crystal liu
& drawings by crystal liu, ruth marten, rachell sumpter, yuka yamaguchi

11 april - 31 may 2008

hosfelt gallery
531 w 36th street,
new york