Blog: Art in Progress - 巓洋 TENYOH

Happy Holidays!

12/23/2019

The sculpture I had started during my residency at Buffalo Creek Art Center was finally completed. This is the 3rd piece I have done for my full-figure study with the incorporation of 2D with 3D. The title is "May the World be Kinder to my Child!" A young woman who has lived a hard life is wishing for a better life for her baby in this piece. I imaged garment factory workers in Bangladesh and Syrian women under siege while making this.

A better world for our children is our universal wish. I shall wish for exactly that in this holiday season.

p.s. I am seeking a personal story that goes with this sculpture. Do you happen to know any?

Ceramic Sculpture: THE DOVE IS IN OUR HANDS

6/24/2019

"Hatred is born of fear, it’s born of ignorance. Fear is its father, and isolation is its mother." The words of Christian Picciolini grabbed my depths. According to this former white supremacist, a solution to acts of hatred was empathy even though he and other white supremacists least deserved it.

"Conversations stop violence," a black activist, Theo EJ Wilson, said. Only with heart to heart conversations, fear and ignorance can be replaced with understanding and empathy. The pain of isolation may be lessened. Hatred may be broken.

Picciolini and Wilson's ideas and what they have been doing to put an end to horrible acts of killing one person at a time moved me. Just like them, could each of us be a part of solution to gun violence, reaching out to those whose isolation is boiling to the point of hatred? In this piece, the dove that symbolizes peace is very weak. Yet, it is not dead. It is lifting its head and looking at the woman, as if asking us, "I am in your hands. Help me fly again."

Sculpture and Painting: WATERFALLS

6/4/2019

This is my first attempt to combine a painting with a sculpture. I intend to return to this piece after putting it aside for awhile. Meanwhile, could you please give me your honest feedback? Are the painting and the sculpture complimenting or fighting against each other? The painting looks too busy, or the figure, too dirty? Are the colors working? Any input is appreciated.

Figurative Sculpture: THE DOVE IS IN OUR HANDS

5/17/2019

The dove at the foot of the figure is supposed to go into her hands when it is completed. Of course, she is not going to wear the green gloves. The entire piece will be painted in subdued colors. I have to rely on your imagination for now, but I hope my message against gun violence is conveyed to you even at this stage.

While I took a break from social media, I experimented a lot with new finishing techniques. More experimentation is needed, but I feel ready to try them on my new pieces. I may ruin them, but that is a part of ceramic art. Something interesting may come out of it. Please look forward to it.

Ceramic Figure: PRAYER

3/12/2019

I thought this pose would be structurally challenging as the whole weight needed to be supported by the small ankles. That problem was easily solved by placing many supports as you see in the photos. The most difficult part was to come up with right body proportions. I attempted to fix it, but still the deltoids look too big, and the face, too small. She does not look like a petite Asian woman.... :-(

Preparation for the Next Project

2/23/2019

I worked on the composition of next sculpture, which will incorporate painting in the background. As "round" pre-stretched canvas come only in certain sizes, I gave more time in the preparation, so that the finished piece would go well with a 20" round canvas that I was going to purchase for this project. I will sleep over this tonight. It will be a lot easier if I return to the original idea of using a rectangular canvas for the background.

Ceramic Sculpture: BEING

1/24/2019

My first attempt to combine a painting with a sculpture is making progress. Her hands will hold an image of water, which I intend to make out of transparent hot glue or epoxy. She is certainly not a model beauty, but she has a healthy body and hopefully you see her inner fullfilment.

Ceramic Figure: LITTLE MESSENGER OF PEACE

11/7/2018

Thank you Claudia and Lynnette. Taking your advice, I have decided to leave the original concept of this sculpture the way it is. While re-attaching her to the paper crane hanger, I changed the title from SKY to LITTLE MESSENGER OF PEACE. She flies with my humble wishes to spread joy and peace in this world.

Ceramic Figure: MESSAGE FROM THE SEA

11/6/2018

This was made during my last sculpting class, while demonstrating slab-building techniques, incorporating wires (buttons) and paper towels (skirt) in the figure. She initially held an abstract wire sculpture in her hand, but it was stuck to a container in the kiln. Its replacement was a spiral shell. It in turn decided her colors and the title MESSAGE FROM THE SEA.

Redoing Old Sculpture

11/2/2018

This girl was sculpted 5 years ago when I was a novice sculptor. I was then scared to fire it above cone 05 (about 1900˚F). I now know it can be fired about 200˚F higher to make it more durable without loosing its integrity. While preparing her for re-firing, I thought I could put her on a toy horse rather than hanging her under paper cranes. What do you think?