Ninja vs Penguin

Ninja March 18th, 2009

Talia Greene is a multi-media artist who incorporates photography, digital printing, drawing, and sewing in her work. She received her BA with departmental honors in art from Wesleyan University in 1998 and her MFA from Mills College in 2002. She will be exhibiting in upcoming shows at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg, PA, the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, and the Sonoma Museum of Visual Art.

In Talia’s print series entitled, Coiffed: A Typology of Entropic Variations, altered cabinet cards reference the urge to control nature, and its futility, with a playful exaggeration of the quotidian frustration of taming our hair. In each portrait, the hair takes on a life of its own in the form of a swarm of flies. It grows; runs wild; starts to conform; then runs wild once more. With each new hairstyle, the sitter takes on a new identity. Even as we try to impose our will on nature, nature imposes its anarchy on us.

detail

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+ View more of Talia Greene’s work here

• Stéphane Massa Bidal’s quote posters (6)
• I’m not the only one who’s got a thing for hair (2)
• Drawing date with Tanya (1)
• “My name means joy,” she said. (3)
• Workflow (0)

Tags: Coiffed: A Typology of Entropic Variations, Ephemera, Hair, Portraits, Prints, Talia Greene

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Ninja January 29th, 2009

Here’s a mini-process of a hair portrait that I’m working on. ^__^ Drawing hair is so relaxing for me. I spent a few days on this piece already, and they felt like mere minutes.

These long locks belong to a young woman that I met at SVA. I usually like to include some type on my hair portraits and asked for her name. She told me that her name is Nigerian for joy.

• Swan Lake sketches (1)
• Shawn Feeney’s BFF project (0)
• I never said I love you: Process 1 (0)
• Drawing date with Tanya (1)
• Taiwan-bound. Be back 7-20-2008! (3)

Tags: Graphite, Hair, Portraits, Process, SVA

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Ninja January 4th, 2009

I’ve been sick the past two days, and my dear sister was kind enough to keep me company, make me a mean bowl of ramen, and watch chick flicks with me while I recuperated. In this photo, she’s sporting the piggy slippers and naturally, I’m in the penguin pjs with the panda slippers.

Well, today, I’m feeling almost 100%, and I finally got around to finishing Tanya’s birthday present! And just in time for our drawing date.

Much thanks to Kimmy for her TLC and to Tanya for giving me the honor of drawing her!

• Swan Lake sketches (1)
• I never said I love you: Process 1 (0)
• “My name means joy,” she said. (3)
• Sumi silhouettes (2)
• Shawn Feeney’s BFF project (0)

Tags: Graphite, Hair, Portraits, Tanya Dakin

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Ninja November 26th, 2008

Penguin and I went to visit the MET yesterday to check out some of the drawings by Michelangelo, Leonardo, Dürer, Hoffman, Ingres, and Seurat (more on that later). Just mind-blowing! I was in awe of their seemingly effortless, undulating line work (guess that’s why they’re called the Masters, eh). I got a wee dizzy viewing Ingres’ seemingly impossible hairline line work through a magnifying glass.

After our private drawing viewing, we set out to explore the Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions exhibition on the 2nd floor. Being that I do have a thing for texture and hair, these 2 images were my favorites. I hate that I’m so predictable.

Onésipe Aguado
Woman Seen from the Back, 1862
Salted paper print from glass negative

Hans Hoffman
A Hedgehog, before 1584
Watercolor and gouache on parchment

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who’s got a thing for hair. Please let me introduce 3 great, current artists who also feature hair in their work: Ruth Marten, Mr. Bingo, and John Ryan Solis.

Ruth Marten

New Yorker, Ruth Marten is a former tattoo artist (those skills translate well in her fine line drawings) and currently works as a commercial illustrator and exhibiting artist. She is represented by the Adam Baumgold Gallery.

Mr. Bingo

London-based illustrator/animator, Mr. Bingo, has a client list which includes Nike, BBC, Virgin, and MTV.

John Ryan Solis

School of Visual Arts Illustration grad, John Ryan Solis, currently works at the design studio, Vault49.

• The drawing room at the MET (5)
• Michelangelo at the Met (1)
• William Blake’s World: “A New Heaven Is Begun” (0)
• Painter: Timothy Hon Hung Lee (1)
• Orphan: New Portrait Paintings and Drawings by Ana Bagayan (4)

Tags: A Hedgehog, before, Dürer, Exhibitions, Gouache, Hair, Hans Hoffman, Hoffman, Ingres, John Ryan Solis, Leonardo, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michelangelo, Mr. Bingo, New York, Onésipe Aguado, Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions, Portraits, Ruth Marten, Seurat, Tattoos, Vault49, Watercolor

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