Cracked Walls and Shitty Hangers

For those who have been following my works for the better part of the past two years, it is quite publicly known that I have taken a deep dive into the works of the great Philip Guston and his overall career. So much could be said about how great the old master has inspired me, both visually and more importantly, spiritually, and on a very personal level when looking back at his life lived.

I have been outspoken about my concept on originality and its importance in the art world today, most notably in a documented conversation with Shoehei Takasaki at his solo exhibition earlier this year. Thus, brings us to my painting Cracked Wall and Shitty Hangers. I was struck by the painting The Line (1978), by Guston, when I visited his retrospective at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. last year in 2023. The emphasis of the two fingers pointing downright at the ground and creating an undeniable dark line in the massive picture; which lead to become the subject of the painting as well as its title, left a deep impression on me. It took me months to understand what I have taken away for the experience, and even more time to realize that I had generated the buoyancy to engage in my own massive canvas in which a similar component is being featured.

Even though I had been unapologetic about my source of inspiration, the nature of being an artist in me had to operate in originality, which is the only form I could comprehend. The fact of making paintings that are seemingly representational comes at a price, and that is the plausibility of my pictures perceived with more narratives than they may appear. I intended to make the bottom right corner of the painting to seem heavily clustered, so that the hand coming out of the shirt hanging on the wall, which points to the hole in the bottom left corner of the painting, would then form an optimal triangle. The decision of such composition felt good after its completion. Furthermore, that was honestly the agenda, and nothing else. By titling the painting with lesser prominent elements in the painting, I hope for the audience to not overthink the hole in the wall or the hand sticking out of the shirt, for there is no story or meaning behind those decision makings aside from the purpose of forming the triangular composition.

Quite frankly, the painting Cracked Wall and Shitty Hangers has various components that made me felt good and to see it as a successful work of art; such as the thick paint brush-marks that catches so much lightings and can create textures that were unpredictable when I was working on the piece, as well as the vibrant colours of choice for the scattered objects lying on the floors and against the warm but yet dull-coloured walls.