The year that was 2017 is drawing to a close very fast. Oh what a year!
I started it with two resolutions:
1/ Launch my art appreciation blog.
2/ Run my first marathon.
I am proud I made good on both counts. The marathon was hard but the discipline helped me fill this site with more than 50 articles spanning so much art and so many very different artists.
Looking back, I hopefully made you travel from Monet’s Impressionism and Seurat’s Pointillism to the Art Nouveau of Tiffany glass vases.
I enjoyed sharing some of my favorite artists with you, including Korean artists Do Ho Suh’s work on displacement and Nam June Paik’s media art.
Along the way, this fitted with reflecting on subjects close to my (he)art which I live by in my daily life: how to bring up kids in museums in a fun way and how pop up art experiences may or may not fit the bill as true art.
Looking at the striking architecture of Louis Kahn and Frank Gehry was awe-inspiring and definitely setting me up for my future Architecture studying modules coming up with Oxford in 2018 (yes, I do that too!).
Highlights of the year are without a doubt Saudi Abdulnasser Gharem’s stamp paintings, Xu Zhen and Richard Deacon’s monumental sculptures. (Click on any of the hyperlinks to access these articles directly).
It really feels I have been truly blessed with some divine exhibitions all year round, including Dior in Paris.
Yet my dear Light and Space favorite Robert Irwin helps me fight habituation every day: writing about not one, not two but three very different installations of his helped me deepen my understanding, admiration and gratitude for his works.
Gratitude is a word I’d like to linger on, if I may.
Shi Zhiying, Rock Carving of 1,000 Buddhas, 2014-15, oil on canvas, Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA)
I am grateful for all of you who come to this site, read, comment, like and ask for more. I never suspected that what started as a personal need to write and share would touch people I know and others I don’t. I am grateful to every single one of you who’ve found me on my life journey to find myself.
Shi Zhiying, Sand Ocean No. 6, 2012, oil on canvas, Collection of Dr. Michael I. Jacobs, New York, NY
To this extent, I will leave you with the work of Shi Zhiying.
Its meditative quality was a surprising end of the year gift.
Shi Zhiying, Mars, 2010, oil on canvas triptych, Courtesy of Cc Foundation, on view at Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA)
Monochrome does not resonate easily with me as I typically feed off colors. Yet I was lucky enough to have her monumental canvases all to myself at OCMA.
And it felt like one of my yoga practices.
Shi Zhiying, Zen Garden, 2011, oil on canvas, Courtsey of The Group Collection, on view at Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA)
Focusing on breathing, calming my mind, holding the pause, eliminating tension.
Shi Zhiying, 100 Buddhas, September 2011-May 2012, watercolor and ink on paper, Courtesy of the artist and White Space Beijing, on view at Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA)
Her 100 Buddhas, September 2011-May 2012 is a compilation of watercolors she made. The same Buddha, every single day…
Subtle changes making for the perfect game of “Spot the Difference” and an incredible learning on how every day is never the same, even if it feels that way.
Shi Zhiying, at left and right, White Marble Figure of Buddha No. 4 and 7, 2014, oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist and White Space Beijing, on view at Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA). At center, White Marble Figure of Buddha No. 6, 2014, oil on canvas, Courtesy of Su Minluo
The pictures won’t do it justice but you’ll still get the idea.
Shi Zhiying, Ocean No. 2, 2014, oil on canvas, Courtesy of Fosun Foundation
Shi Zhiying, Ocean No. 2, 2014, oil on canvas, Courtesy of Fosun Foundation
Simple, quiet, immense, calm, grounding and with a centered energy I will make sure to remember for my 2018 resolution. In 2018, I would like to accept stepping outside of my comfort zone, tipping myself upside down in the process and daring the head stand that always eluded me. Wish me luck and send me tips if you have some…
Namaste and Happy New Year to you all.
Shi Zhiying is at OCMA until February 25, 2018.
© 2017 Ingrid Westlake
All pictures by Ingrid Westlake, unless otherwise stated.