Jolene Lai’s ‘Short Stories’ Solo Exhibition taking place at the Fullerton Museum Center Opens This Weekend

Los Angeles-based artist Jolene Lai will be showing a collection of works in “Short Stories” at the Fullerton Museum Center this fall.

We invite our Orange County supporters to come out to the opening reception of the exhibition is Saturday, August 25th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

“Short Stories” will be on view from August 25th through October 21st.

Jolene Lai works primarily with oil on canvas or mixed media on watercolor paper. With bold use of color, shape and intricate detail, she creates images with a seductive aesthetic and subject matter that weaves in emotions of whimsy, melancholy, irony, and absurdity.

Lai seeks to engage her audience in works that are approachable, newly imagined spaces that the viewer is invited to explore on their own terms.

Interview with Ken Flewellyn for “Stay Gold”

Thinkspace is proud to present Stay Gold in the project room featuring new works from Los Angeles based artist and Thinkspace veteran, Ken Flewellyn. Stay Gold is the first solo exhibition with Thinkspace Gallery from the realist painter. The works dissect the intersection of diverse cultures and Hip Hop with portraits of women that challenge our assumptions about identity and cultural homogeneity. In anticipation of the exhibition, our interview with Ken Flewellyn discusses his creative process, cultures, and best brunch places in Los Angeles.

Join us for the opening reception of Stay Gold at Thinkspace Gallery, Saturday, August 5th from 6 – 9 pm.

SH: Your work is inspired by bringing Hip-Hop and Japanese cultures together. At first glance or thought, these cultures seem in diametric opposition of each other, but can you outline how they might be more alike than they are different?

KF: I think it’s a natural inclination to simplify when thinking about culture. We always think similar or different which is very black and white. Cultural identity is complex and nuanced, and more malleable than similar or different. I want people to expect cultures to clash and when they don’t then question what notion led them to expect that clash in the first place. I hope that in my work there’s a harmony or balance that’s struck illustrating how subculture and traditional culture compliment each other.

SH: Can you explain a bit of your art background and education?

KF: I started as a photographer, I carried a camera with me everywhere clear into college. I eventually took a figure drawing class to fulfill a requirement and loved it. I’ve never really stopped making art. I later graduated from Cal State Northridge with a BA in Art, Media, Design and a focus in illustration. Once I graduated I popped around doing a bunch of different creative jobs, whatever I could get my hands on. I did some toy design, some graphic design and web development work; I even worked in visual effects for a while painting backgrounds back into movies. I was still painting at night but I wasn’t really doing anything with the pieces. Eventually I reached out to LC at Thinkspace for a portfolio review. He’s helped me along the way to refine my skill and make work I can be proud of. I showed my first piece ever at Cannibal Flower, his one night art event. There I was introduced to an art community that lifted us all up. The painting lessons I’ve learned from fellow artists like Ariel DeAndrea and Matthew Grabelsky have been invaluable. I think combined with what I’ve learned from Andrew, Shawn and LC about the gallery world I can definitively say the best of my education has taken place outside of school.

SH: You walked away from the paintbrush for a while and picked it up again 6 years ago. Can you share what brought you back to the canvas?

KF: About 6 years ago I injured my right hand bad enough that painting wasn’t really an option without surgery. I had injured myself at my day job and even with surgery I was looking at a long recovery before I’d be able painting again. What can you do right? So I got the surgery and just didn’t paint for a while. After a certain point I realized not painting was driving me insane and using my right hand was hell, so I started learning to paint with my left. Haha those paintings were terrible. I never gained the same dexterity or precision that my right has but it was a good exercise thinking how to solve problems from the opposite side. I kept this up and started working in galleries to immerse myself in art until the day I could paint with confidence again. Once I regained better control of my right I had all sorts of new ideas to explore and finally a way to do it accurately.

SH: If your body of work inspired a cocktail, what is the recipe and what would it taste like?

KF: I think it would be like a Vieux Carre, maybe with a Japanese twist.

Let’s say:

1 shot Suntory Whiskey
1 shot Cognac
1 shot Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Benedcitine
1 dash Peachauds bitters
1 dash Aromatic bitters

Served in a short glass with one big cube. It would be a little sweet and smooth, but with a punch.

SH: Walk us through a day in your studio?

KF: Well a Sunday painting shift starts with brunch am I right? Once I’m back I’ll grab a cup of cold brew and get myself prepped to paint. If I have a new album I want to check out or new podcast I’ll normally start that up, put my phone on silent and the get busy. I’ll mix all the paint I think will be necessary for that session before I start. Ill normally get a good 12 hours in a day on my days off only really stopping for dinner or a cocktail now and then. Once I’m at that 12 hour zone, if my brain is mush I’ll call it for painting and use the rest of the night to thumbnail new compositions while I watch sometime mindless.

SH: What is your creative process from concept to completion?

KF: They all start in my sketchbook. I think like a lot of illustration students my sketchbooks are full of thumbnails; tiny ideas for pieces jotted down as quickly as I can. I don’t really care about accuracy I just want to get an idea of down on paper. In a way the simpler image the better at this stage. I may do 50 thumbnails before I find 1 that I like. I’ll then draw it from a bunch of different angles and then crop and move things around and crop until I have an idea I think is clear. Now I can elaborate to better flesh out the narrative. Once I feel like the concept is clear and concise I set up a photo shoot to get the reference ill need. Once I’ve got all that I’m ready to get to painting. From there the piece kind of takes on a mind of its own. Even though I have a plan and reference, I’m not bound to it, this way I can allow for moments genuine inspiration. Flexibility in the plan is key.

SH: Were any of the pieces you’re showing particularly challenging, if so, which pieces and how did they push you to grow as an artist compositionally and with technique?

KF: I try to make sure there’s a new challenge in every piece but “Triumph” definitely pushed me the furthest. That piece took a lot of patience; I worked on it for months. I’d work on it for a week or so and get frustrated and put it away. A few weeks later when I finished another piece I’d be ready to dig back into it. Now that it’s done it opens the doors for so many possible new pieces, with new imagery. I’m stoked to get back into the studio and work out some new ideas.

SH: What excites you about other artists’ work?

KF: I think technically I look at use of color the most. I admire artists that use a broad pallet and still find harmony organizing every color imaginable into one composition. I also admire artist that have mastered same finesse with a very limited pallet and range. Both show a great amount of control and foresight and make for stunning pieces.

As for subject matter, Surrealist painters that envisioned mind bending worlds with incredible beasts get me every time.

SH:  What did you have playing in the background while you painted this latest body of work, Netflix, podcasts, music?

KF: If I’m doing Netflix I’m normally watching stand up or a documentary. For a while Netflix had 3 hip hop documentaries everyone should check out:

Stretch and Bobbito(History of 2 bad ass DJ’s influence on Hip Hop)
Fresh Dressed(History of Hip Hop Fashion)
Hip-Hop Evolution (The History Of Hip Hop)
All three were fascinating with an awesome soundtrack.

I also watched a ton of Doctor Who. I’m even watching it now, while I fill out this interview.

When I was listening to music I was deeply immersed in hip-hop, funk, break beat, and trap. I’ve been hooked on Spotify’s discover weekly and daily playlist all year. I’ve probably logged 8-12 hours daily.

All of my podcast are nerdy:

Freakonomics(economist do nerd stuff)
This American life
Lavar Burton Reads(LB reads you a story!)
Ryan Posseins Nerd Poker(Ryan plays D&D with friends)
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know(nerd game show)
Lore(‘real’ ghost stories)

SH: Favorite brunch food, and second best brunch spot in Los Angeles? If you’re nice enough, you can also share your number one brunch spot.

KF: Haha you’re not getting number 2 and number 1, that’s crazy. Best brunch food? I’m thinking shrimp and grits, or maybe I’m just hungry, it’s impossible to tell.

I’ll give you my number 3 and my new fave. Number three is Metro Cafe in Culver City. It’s Serbian style food with mad delicious scrambles, sandwiches and even fresh salads for the weirdoes that have salad at brunch. They have good coffee and better wine/beer and parking is easy.

My new favorite spot though is The Mar Vista. They’ve got killer food(chilaquiles!), sangria in a glass the size of your head, and mellow vibes spun by Mr. Numberonderful while live painters work on pieces. It’s the Sunday get down.

Interview with Seth Armstrong for “Pretty Deep Shit”

Thinkspace is proud to present Seth Armstrong’s latest body of work ‘Pretty Deep Shitin our main room. Armstrong, a Los Angeles native, and based artist uses oil paints to capture the paused observation, catching a scene one might not be meant to be a witness.  In anticipation of Armstrong’s upcoming exhibition with us, we have an exclusive interview with Seth Armstrong to discuss his feelings about Los Angeles, a day in the studio, and how he pushes him to grow as an artist.

Pretty Deep Shit’s opening reception is from 6 – 9 pm this coming Saturday, April 29th in our main room

SH: What inspired your latest body of work?
SA: My personal life, basically. I’m looking at the artwork right now and it’s a map of where I spend my time and people I know. I can think it’s more complicated than that when I’m doing it, but sitting here now when it’s done, that’s how it looks.

SH: What is your favorite and least favorite part of LA? What do you think is the most overrated & underrated aspects of living in Los Angeles?
SA: I love the weather, I love the proximity to the ocean, I love my backyard, my parent’s backyard, backyards in general. My least favorite thing is the fact that I only see my friends on the Westside once a year.

SH: Do you imagine the people within your painting have connected story lines? Or are the all independent from each other?
SA: I like to think that they’re all related.

SH: How do you challenge yourself to grow and progress as an artist?
SA: I try not to paint the same thing too often. I feel like there are some aesthetic qualities that my paintings share, of course, but I don’t want to have a gimmick.

SH: What are your three favorite colors?
SA: Red, Yellow, and Blue.

SH: If you were to collaborate with any artists dead or alive, who would it be and why?
SA: Does Ben Franklin count as an artist? David Hockney, Edward Hopper, and Ben Franklin.

SH: What do you enjoy using oils over other mediums?
SA: I like their unpredictability. I never know quite what I’m gonna get, which is challenging and fun.

SH: Can you walk us through what a day in the studio might look like?
SA: My dog wakes me up by dropping toys on my face. I take her somewhere and get coffee. I come home, eat breakfast, answer emails and bullshit. Hopefully, by 11 or noon I’m painting. I paint until dinner time, take a break for an hour or two, then I’m back in the studio for another few hours at least.

SH: What excites you about other artists work?
SA: I like seeing the process within the finished piece. I like seeing the evidence of the work put in. And I like texture.

SH: If you work was translated into a cocktail what would it be made out of and taste like?
SA: Half coffee, half beer.

Interview with Brian Mashburn for ‘Axiom’

Thinkspace is proud to present Brian Mashburn‘s latest body of work ‘Axiomin our project room. Mashburn, an Ashville-based artist, creates detailed oils painting of smoky landscapes where nature finds it way to prevail amongst a desolate industrialized world.  In anticipation of Mashburn’s upcoming exhibition with us, we have an exclusive interview with Brian Mashburn to discuss his creative process, a day in the studio, and a perfect day in Asheville.

Axioms opening reception is from 6 – 9 pm this coming Saturday, April 29th in our main room

SH: What was the inspiration behind this latest body of work?
BM: For the most part it’s in response to our ongoing political situation and various other social and environmental concerns.

SH: The mountains seem to be more looming and ominous compared to past work, is this a progression or our projection?
BM: Maybe a little of both. I’m pretty fond of traditional Chinese landscape painting, earlier works from the Song and Yuan dynasties in particular. Some of the recent thematic and compositional cues have certainly come from that influence, which includes more prominent mountains. Personally, I don’t see them as necessarily ominous or looming but I understand how they could read as such. For me, the mountains represent either an ideal place or state of mind or serve as an anchor for the composition providing stability and/or depth to the picture.

SH: How do you challenge yourself to grow and evolve as an artist?
BM: I try to stay engaged and curious, earnest and when possible not cynical. I do my best to educate myself on a wide variety of topics both technically and conceptually tangential to my work.

SH: What is your creative process? How much does the outside world influence your work and voice?
BM: Quite a bit, there is a ubiquity about the news these days that is sort of unavoidable and painting can be a good way to process things, a kind of catharsis for sure. For example, the painting called “Great Leap Forward” began as a response to Trump’s proposed border wall and other antics from this administration. It got me thinking about examples from history in which a brutish solution failed to address a nuanced problem. The historic Great Leap Forward was Mao Zedong’s campaign to force China from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. A particularly insidious part was the mandate to kill all Eurasian tree sparrows and rats in China in an effort to boost grain production for export. I guess the thinking was the fewer grain-eating sparrows there were the larger the harvest and subsequent export business would be. The plan failed but not before creating an ecological catastrophe that greatly exacerbated the Great Chinese Famine. Scattered throughout the painting are several references to Mao’s rise to power and looking on are 3 tree sparrows and a rat.

SH: Can you walk us through what a day in the studio looks like?
BM: I wake up around 6 or 7 most days then have my coffee and read until 8 or 9. The rest of the morning I try and focus on the things that are either more difficult or less appealing, things that I will dread doing until I get them out of the way. The afternoon usually finds me down some rabbit hole either in a painting or doing research. I’ll take an occasional break to play with the dog or go for a walk. I try and finish up around 8.

SH: What do you enjoy doing when not painting? What would be a perfect day in Asheville?
BM: I like to hike. I also watch birds. Asheville is a great town for both. There is a scenic route called the Blue Ridge Parkway nearby, it’s sort of like our version of the PCH. It closes in the winter whenever there is snow or ice. On those days I try and get up to the parkway early in the morning and walk the closed road. Those are pretty ideal days in Asheville.

SH: If you were to collaborate with any artists dead or alive, who would it be and why?
BM: It would be cool to work on a mural with Thomas Hart Benton, I think our approaches would be similar and I would learn a great deal.

SH: What excites you about other artists work?
BM: That’s hard to say, I appreciate nuance, integrity, and technical proficiency but those things may or may not generate excitement. There is something about the immediacy of visual art that produces a sensory experience separate from critical thinking.

SH: Are you a binge-watcher/listener? If so, what’s been your latest addition?
BM: Yes, I listen to podcasts and audiobooks compulsively. I binged S-Town twice the first week it came out and recently ran across The Atlantic’s feed on Soundcloud. Recent audiobooks include Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, Them by Jon Ronson, and The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker.

SH: If your work was translated into a cocktail what would it be made out of and taste like?
BM: Bourbon, neat.

 

Interview with Jolene Lai for ‘Beside You’

Jolene Lai Banner

Thinkspace is proud to present Jolene Lai’s latest body of work ‘Beside You’ in our main room this Saturday, February 4th. The Los Angeles-based Singapore-born artist reimagines archetypal stories drawn from myth, Chinese folklore, and fairytales to create surreal compositions with rich vibrant oils. In anticipation of her upcoming exhibition with us, we have an exclusive interview with Jolene Lai to discuss her inspiration, the twisted nature of Asian horror films, a defining moment in her own adolescents and so much more.

Join us at the opening of ‘Beside You’ Saturday, February 4th from 6 to 9 pm. 

SH: Can you elaborate on the inspiration for this latest body of work and what inspired you to explore this narrative?
JL: Much like Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, where the tale begins with Alice falling through the rabbit hole and into an idiosyncratic world that embraces both logic and contradiction, my new solo Beside You, attempts to draw viewers into a surrealistic world with familiar settings.

This new series of paintings explores re-enactments of stories from common experiences that are familiar to most. The relativity is reintroduced within strange and disorienting landscapes where bold characters integrate with ordinary spaces.

In one painting, a back alley in broad daylight acts as the background. An impish little girl is running in the alley, while numerous giant tentacles are approaching from behind. The commonplace back alley now becomes a platform for an interesting dialogue about a girl’s escapade. What is previously banal becomes a fantastical location where a mischievous girl has conjured a strange playmate.

In another, we see the interior of a house that is gushing with water with a pair of drowning hands reaching up from below the current. There is a girl sitting on the stairs, nonchalant and uncaring.

I want to showcase Beside You by starting off with childhood naivety and playfulness, and take the viewer on a journey that gradually intensifies to bold but woeful characters dwelling in haunting spaces. The series of paintings eventually completes with the subject of maturity, where alienating and tense settings with uneventful, uncomfortable exchanges between characters.

In each work, a different character is illustrated in a unique fantasy. Coming together as a whole, the various facets of each work allow for a more personal and unique interaction with the individual.

In this aspect, Beside You is a mirror to one’s present, a re-visitation of the past and a portal to a future.

Jolene Lai Nutcracker

SH: As the show is about adolescence, do you have a defining memory from when you were an adolescent you can share with us?
JL: When I was ten, I had an episode with the next door children at the old apartment building where I grew up. I was out at the corridor watering the plants, when my neighbors’ children – three kids who were younger than me, began hurling obscenities at me for no apparent reason. Taken aback and annoyed, I ended up squirting them with my water spray bottle, which in all honesty, didn’t even get far enough to reach them.

Minutes later, their angry mother knocked on our door and demanded my apology. My mum who learned about the ordeal, probably thought our neighbor’s unreasonable accusations and over the top tone was ridiculous and offensive, and so fought back harder.

I think I was at a frenzy state of mind at that point of time. Caught between an extremely unpleasantly conversation which I had a part in causing, I eventually burst out in tears. My mum in trying to defend me, most likely saw my crying as a form of guilty admission, and reacted by snapping at me to stop my crying.

I don’t think about that fateful afternoon too much, but I think it subconsciously resurfaces at times when I am a wreck and prompts me to be better at undertaking the hard knocks of life.

I cry lesser these days and use a super-soaker when I water my plants.

SH: It seems like you have a lot of fun when painting. What is your favorite part of creating a piece and what is the most difficult aspect of painting?
JL: I keep a folder of jotted ideas, images of interesting perspectives of the places I crossed paths with, as well as researched materials pertaining to subject matters that have caught my attention.

Each time I finish a project, I get to flip through this concise diary of thoughts. Some recorded tidbits I have forgotten over time, another fragments of information bring back familiarity. The browse is always interesting and refreshing, and reveals an insight to a moment of my life.

I think the difficult aspect of painting is trying to get past that hump during the painting process. It is that period when the work is half complete and the work in progress on the canvas still looks like an underpainting, and that eagerness that was lifting you at the start is beginning to dissipate. You marvel at the notion of owning a clone of yourself so that you could hand over the monotony, and rejuvenate your soul with a new project.

Jolene Lai

SH: Your work is very bold and colorful, and dances on the line of fanciful and dark. In a past interviews you’ve shared you were fascinated by Asian ghost stories, and bring a bit of that haunting quality into your work. Why do you think Asian cultures seem to have the most terrifying tales?
JL: I think that is certainly more true if you are born and raised in a culture that is deeply rooted in superstitions. My upbringing was constituted of adults warning about bizarre taboos. I recall being told not to whistle at night or hang wind chimes by the window because it lures evil. And being reminded to never turn around if someone calls out your name at night during the Hungry Ghost festival (a tradition where the Chinese pay homage with food and incense to the spirits let out from the underworld during the month of July).

The prevalent essence of most Asian horror dramatizes a lot on the uncommon nooks and crannies within common grounds. It shocks you when least expected and the content or characters told are hardly ever romanticized like what one might expect from Western horror tales. The late at night eerie tales we tell simply reflects the dead as it is – very much like you and I, just paler and quietly lurking in that darkest corner of your room.

SH: There is a cinematic quality to your paintings. If they were made into a movie, who would be the director and what would be the storyline?
JL: An in between of Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai and American cartoonist Chris Ware.

It is remarkable how these prominent figures who emphasize on ordinary aspects of the everyday, are able to tug at the heart strings of audiences and readers from all walks of life. The stories they portray are almost always relatable to any individual, despite the both of them coming from very contrasting cultural backgrounds. Creative minds who possess the ability to empower the insignificant command a lot of respect from me, and it is this unique quality that inspires my work.

Briefly on the story line – A man who is not able to smile or laugh. He goes around documenting the happy expressions of strangers, and routinely practices in front of the mirror. He obsessively imitates every facial twitch and even tries to incorporate moving gestures to enhance his act. And no matter how hard he tries, the outcome was always awkward and peculiar.

This was a short I worked on for fun some years back. I never found a befitting concluding plot, so I left it under my desk.

Jolene Lai

SH: What draws you to oils versus other mediums? How has oil paints shaped you as an artist?
JL: Are you drawn to smells? I am talking about the smell of a fresh stack of paper, the odor of sharpies or the sharp pungent fragrant of tree saps of certain botanic plants. The scent that oil paints emit attracts me like a moth flying towards the flame. No other medium does it quite like the same as oils do for me. It is an unhealthy obsession.

I had experimented with watercolors, acrylic, pastel, graphite, etc. while in art school, and thought them to be interesting in their own unique ways. There are many techniques one can explore with each media, but it was oil paints that spiked my fancy. My first attempt at oils was one that was filled with curiosity and excitement all at once. The consistency and odor of oils was distinct in comparison to the other mediums I have tried. The flexibility of this forgiving media that stay true to its pigment before and after application was delightful to me, and it is through oils that my knowledge of other art materials and techniques continues to be broadened.

SH: In a past interview you joked that you paint faster when tipsy, is this because it alleviates self-judgement? If so, do you have any advice for artists on pushing through the “awkward phase” of their work?
JL: Sometimes a combination of painting and listening to music tempts me to drink. I have very weak tolerance for alcohol, so a few sips raises my blood pressure and unwinds my persnickety tendencies. I do however enjoy that brief moment of losing a tiny bit of control over my rigorous routine, but most times, you will catch me listening to documentaries or podcasts instead of music if you step into the studio.

On the ‘awkward phase’ – Embrace the discomfort at all times. It is a crucial part and parcel of your work in progress that plays an important role in helping to motivate you to always try to construct a better remedy.

SH: Best food in Singapore? Best food in Los Angeles?
JL: I used to be a fanatic of crabs, so naturally the thing I had missed most when I moved to the US was my country’s famous chili crabs. With the main ingredient being fresh Sri Lanka crabs, it is an uncommon dish even in Asian restaurants here in Los Angeles.

But all said, cravings for the simplistic foods back home that I used to take granted for keeps resonating. Like when I wake up in the morning and all I want is that luxurious spread of butter and kaya (jam made with caramel, eggs and coconuts milk) that is sandwiched between layers of toast. The kaya toast is of course only complete (in my opinion) when you pair it with Teh Peng (Iced milk tea that is concocted of black tea and condensed milk, and is never as sweet as the Thai iced tea). When the two co-joins, there is an instant explosion of bliss that melts in one’s mouth.

Los Angeles is another upcoming mecca of great cuisine in the US. It is where varying cultural foods meet at an international plane. From Mexican to Ethiopian, Indian to Thai and American to Greek – the choices are endless. And while I love the limitless possibilities, I have to say I am a big fan of America’s burgers. The easiest, most cost efficient and taste worthy burgers where I come from was McDonald’s. I never understood the concept of what real good burgers were until I came here.

I recently tried out Culver City’s Father’s Office burgers and really enjoyed it. Tasty juicy patties cushioned in between crispy light buns. The fries came out great as well at the right crisp, width, and length. They don’t serve ketchup though, so if you can’t do without, I suggest you bring your own.

Jolene Lai

SH: Favorite thing to do in Singapore? Favorite thing to do in Los Angeles?
JL:
SG: Taking short walks late at night and stealing glimpses into someone’s lit window during my strolls.

LA: Taking short morning walks and listening to the cheery bird chirps. The early hustling and bustling vibrations always clear and refreshes my mind.

SH: What was playing in the background while creating this latest body of work?
JL: An array of Japanese 80’s music packed with nostalgia and whimsy. Comprises of artists like Mai Yamane, Junko Ohashi and Miharu Koshi.

SH: You didn’t decide to pursue a fine art profession as a painter until you were 30, how do you think you benefited from choosing to switch gears at 30 versus making the decision to paint in your early 20s?
JL: The me in my twenties was still exploring, unsettled and clueless. I wanted to dip my fingers in all the new colorful things that came along, and my restless temperament led me to never linger on an avenue for too long. The early brief encounter with different art-related assignments acted as a clear indication to myself that the creative industry was where I wanted to immerse. Trying out the various arts departments such as teaching, illustrating and designing, helped me to understand who I want to be, and what I hope to achieve and accomplish in life. So when it came to my thirties, the messy tumbleweeds that used to obstruct my path were lessened and the journey ahead so much brighter and promising.

Jolene Lai Beside You Ad