paper

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

(click the image to view close up)

…was an owl.

it’s an owl photo on a paper holder. it looked awfully wrong, but good that i had to have it. the holder had a magnet on the back so it was on my fridge door for awhile. what on earth the eerie owl is on a paper holder is a mystery.

i found a pretty shop called “paper umbrella” in regina. the owner is very friendly. he sells pretty japanese paper as well as other stylish kitschy items. i bought a tiny japanese notebook made by kokuyo. it’s only 4 x 2 3/4″. of course, i bought a white one :)

among other things, i bought a bag of scrap japanese paper. i don’t make scrapbooks, but i can’t help being attracted by the idea of “scraps” - the useless and unwanted, full of imperfection. they could have been thrown away, but now they are with me. these strips of paper on only about 2-3cm wide. they’re the cutoff ends of bigger sheets of paper. i arranged the strips side by side, and took a photo of them. now they’re on my blog.

in a similar way, i find $1 store items very attractive. most of the stuff sold in dollar stores is, as you know, real junk. but some it is still very attractive to me. these cheap consumer goods weren’t made to be perfect. the workers were probably paid unfairly and had no time to make their products look good at all. but sometimes, their nonchalant efforts make a delicious item. for example, this emergency raincoat. i don’t know why they made this — i don’t even understand the concept of this design. and why is the guy running? but for some reason, this just looked delicious. i had to have it. now it sits on my desk in front of me.

someone’s junk is someone else’s treasure.