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’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

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

this drawing is for a group show titled ‘100 stories’ at hosfelt gallery in NYC, april 11th to may 31st. you can sneak a peek at the show on the gallery’s website and read about it on todd hosfelt’s blog.

it was also mentioned on the juxtapoz blog last saturday. exciting!

hosfelt gallery
531 w 36th street,
new york

park debut

i’ve been getting together with other mothers with young children. when we first meet new people, elijah acts shy and holds onto me. but once he gets used to them he starts grabbing the other babies’ faces…

it’s nice to see him interacting with other babies and young children. whenever he spends time with other people, he gets chatty with me afterwards. i think he’s trying to tell me about his day.

see the process of this drawing:

park debut art recipe 1

park debut art recipe 2

this drawing is for a group show called “100 stories” at hosfelt gallery in NY (april 11 to may 31)

i’m showing these drawings for ‘a visceral valentine’ group show at apama mackey gallery in houston, TX. the curator, frank anthony porreco III contacted me in january and chose these two for the show. he found my drawings somewhere on the internet.

the gallery owner kindly asked me to send her extra drawings in case someone wants to see more of my drawings. so i sent her aibiki and tokimeki. they might not be displayed in the show, but they are also available for sale.

this is my first time showing my drawings in houston. the opening is today from 6 - 9 pm. if you are in houston during the show, please go take a look and have a good time!

Apama Mackey gallery in collaboration with Porreco Productions presents:

A Visceral Valentine
A group exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculpture curated by Frank Anthony Porreco III.

Featuring work by: Marcus Adams, Lisa Alisa, Rene Cruz, Sean Flournoy, Derek Hess, Wyatt Nash, Frank Anthony Porreco III, Carol F. Smith, Jenifer Tong, Kuro Unagi, Jason Villegas and Yuka Yamaguchi

*Due to the graphic nature of some images, this exhibition may not be suitable for all audiences.*

Saturday February 16, 2008 6-9 PM

Apama Mackey Gallery
628 E. 11th Street Houston,
Texas 77009
ph.713.850.8527

www.mackeygallery.com

ISM is opening a gallery in the heart of the art district of downtown Long Beach.
it will be one of the largest non-profit galleries in Southern California.
they are celebrating the grand opening with an exhibition and reception on Saturday, January 26th.

the opening exhibition is entitled “Hello, my name is __________.” and they invited artists to display OLD or NEW art in this show as they introduce the ISM: Gallery and their favorite artists to the city of Long Beach and Southern California.”

i sent off these three drawings:

gorinjyu

monkey gravity

papa gone fishin’

one of the LA publications, the district is doing a story on the ISM grand opening and picked my image “gorinjyu” to use as the cover for the magazine. when i get the magazine, i’ll post it on my blog.

i hope a lot of people show up for this grand opening to celebrate this wonderful organization.

ISM: gallery // grand opening

This Saturday January 26th we will be opening the ISM: gallery in a fresh
approach to art and social activism. The ISM: gallery is a familial center
exhibiting creative installations, artistic seminars and informative lectures
that will both educate and entertain while presenting an opportunity for
community involvement.

“Hello My Name Is…” the grand opening exhibition will feature artists
Aaron Israel, Adrien Biosse Duplan, 2H, Brian Viveros, Chet Zar, Derek
Hess, Famous When Dead, Grace Chee, Inky Dreadfuls, Haubs, KMNDZ,
Mark Murphy, Munk One, Sheesh, Stephen Anderson, The Dead Beatnik,
Yuka Yamaguchi, Zoso and over a 100 more artists.

ISM: a community project is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated
to benefiting the youth of our society through the artistic enrichment of
our community.

For more information on our organization and how to donate please visit:
www.ismcommunity.org

ISM: gallery at the Koos Art Center
540 East Broadway
Long Beach, California 90802