Fat Art

New Blog

2011-05-24T02:37:00.001-07:00

I have abandoned this blog. It is being continued on my website here.

commission opportunities

2010-08-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

I have had much interest in my obesity-themed paintings (including a write-up in Her Magazine) but some people have wondered curiously who my anticipated market for these paintings is. These paintings are the ones (see illustrations) where I have depicted rows of organic apples or heritage tomatoes: illustrating the wide variety of natural produce we have in all its glory. I have barely begun this series, but I am in the middle of producing a lot more – and am keen to hear from anyone who might want this type of aesthetic addition to their wall.

Obvious hanging places for such artwork are kitchens in private dwellings (although I am positive they work well in wide range of modern interior spaces). The real potential for such work, however, is in an environment where each artwork’s message can be truly shared. Offices of dieticians or weight loss consultants cry out for such artwork, as do foyers or waiting rooms of any institution that prides itself on addressing weight issues through promotion of healthy eating options. Shops that sell whole food might also have a place for obesity-themed artwork (or health-themed artwork), including companies that specialise in the growing and delivery of specific whole food produce.

I am more than happy to discuss commercial commission opportunities, and am able to produce almost any type of artwork in this theme. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me via my website or send an email to art@amiria.co.nz!

pigs

2010-07-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

Are we pigs? Do we feed our faces in frenzy? Are our eyes too big for our bellies?

These ideas are explored by contemporary artists in their relentless hunt for what is to blame for society’s rapidly escalating struggle with obesity.

Oldrich Kulhanek combines gaping human mouths with that of pigs; ‘Murkithefrog’ shows a woman physically scrunching her mouth in an effort to keep it closed. The works suggest that we are victim to our greed: that some animalistic force within keeps us eternally hungry and eating.

Excessive greed is but one of many suggested causes, just as there are many suggested solutions. All that is known for sure is that none of these proposed cures has come close to halting society’s swift weight gain. None of these solutions has yet worked.

fascination with fat

2010-06-29T03:20:00.000-07:00

Our obsession with body weight has long been gossiped about, written about and explored on our television screens. It was only a matter of time before this fascination became fodder for contemporary artists. Whether it is Duane Hanson’s sculptural depictions of plump figures engaged in the ordinary business of daily living, or Jenny Saville’s representations of bulging human flesh, the illustration of the gluttonous both fascinates and disturbs. It captivates us so greatly that Lucian Freud’s painting of a morbidly obese figure spilling over a floral couch sold for $US33.6 million – the highest price paid for an artwork by a living artist.

While there are those who offer deep expositions into the cause and blame, these artists – along with others such as Oldrich Kulhanek (whose drawings and lithographs seem an exercise in quiet observation rather than the brutal casting of judgment) – do not attempt to offer overt commentary. They simply replicate human form: a careful illustration of over-consumption...as if the showing was all we needed.

Here, the artist’s job is not photographer, but story-teller. These artists grab up the matter of today and wrap it inside a panel of canvas: trap it within a confined sculptural form, serving it up as mirror, reflecting back snapshots of our spiraling body-weight journey. While society battles with an endless array of eating-related issues, these artists offer solace. They escape the internal turmoil and provide a picture of what they see here, now. They somehow find the peace, the space, behind it all.

They tell a story, of which we are yet to find the end.

View my own obesity related artwork here.

handmade

2010-05-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

There are so many skilled artists and designers in the world – and so many stunning creations – it makes me sad, sometimes, that shops are filled with mass-produced items that are sold to millions. It’s not the lack of originality that bothers me (although knowing you are the only one in the world to have something can be cool) but rather the lack of care – of soul – that is put into the construction of each item. Mass-produced products are not necessarily badly made – indeed, some of them are virtually indestructible – but they lack the magic that is present when the entire construction process is controlled a designer.

When you hold something made by the one who invented it, you can almost feel their fingers creating it; the contemplation that has gone into each angle, each line. You can feel their care for it; their love for it. Sometimes even imperfections can make something more beautiful, more authentic – a reminder that this item was made by another human being. In this type of making, something of the designer themselves is imparted, something that is lost when a product is commissioned for manufacture in a factory.

There are millions of artists out there who want their products to be found and appreciated by others – the hard part is finding them. One who is worth discovering is Harriet Garland-Levett (photos inset), a Hawkes Bay designer who has a creative business making accessories, fabric headwear, jewellery and dresses.

A website that allows you to discover artistic creations is the Australian RedBubble, which ships prints by artists and designers to most places in the world. (In a quick bit of self-promotion, you can see my RedBubble profile here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/amiriagale). Granted, this removes the ‘handmade’ aspect I was earlier referring to, but it allows the public access to stunning creations that would otherwise unlikely be seen. These prints, and the website itself, also act as a promotional device, drawing attention to the designer’s work, so that handmade products can be found and acquired directly.

the beauty of invention

2010-04-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

In many respects imitating from real life is easy: decisions about shape, form and colour are relatively few. Besides demonstrating technical skill and the ability to compose an artwork in an aesthetically pleasing manner, there is little left to do. When, instead, you are asked to generate something that was never there before – to invent something new and magical – that is where the realm of true artistry lies. Aki Fukuoka, a talented young Auckland designer, does just that. Aki creates the most beautiful, intricate worlds within the illustrations she has created: reminding me again that the purpose of art is the story; the extent to which an image can move you; steal you from your present world and submerge you in another.

some day

2010-04-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Thinking the grass is greener is a tendency we all have – placing our hopes and fixations on something else, something that is out there (anywhere but here), and telling ourselves when we have this thing; when we acquire it – at last, our lives will be okay.

It is the kind of belief than can be tested many times – and indeed is – and now I catch myself in the ludicrousness of it. It doesn’t matter what you pin your hopes on: a new job, a new house, a new life situation... once achieved, there is always some other unpleasant circumstance that rears its head. It turns out, upon arrival, that whatever thing you had been sure was preventing you from happiness, or living the perfect life, was not to blame entirely after all. Or, if it was, its place has been taken, just as swiftly, by something else.

There came a point when I realised that the common factor between these unpleasant situations was not the unpleasantness in the situation after all. It was me: my continued insistence that such an imperfection exists.

The vast majority of us seem, by my reckoning, to have mental programming that is, at best, severely faulty. This programming that has been largely responsible for our success in ruling the planet and dominating our animal friends in the survival game, has made us continually seek new, ‘better’ experiences, resulting in our spectacularly high achievement as a species. But while evolution has favoured these traits, it has a cruel consequence. If now is not good enough – if we are predisposed to thinking that another, better situation is what we want – it leaves us in a state of permanent discontent. Even while claiming to be otherwise happy and fulfilled, people lament for better work colleagues, a kinder boss, a bigger pay packet, a nicer house. If just this would happen, I would be happy.

I pretend I am different, of course. I pretend I have reached some higher plane where I see all truth and thus am lifted above the torment of common man. But...mostly it just means that I see it. I see the futility of our search...and even wonder at the fruitfulness of aiming towards anything, let alone some great success, financial, academic, professional or otherwise. I know that if or when some great achievement arrives, I will still be here, after the fleeting moment of euphoria: stuck, with me. I will still be here with my brain, which, despite my best intentions, will say...ah yes, Amiria, BUT.

Perhaps I am lying. Perhaps once you see the futility of our discontent there is no turning back.

Who knows?

For now, I will just paint.