Creative Thresholds

by pastiche.in

My surreal world

Welcome to my surreal world. It’s not an effort, it’s a way of life. It is personal, it is intellectual, it is romantic and most of all, it is real.

Shaded

All of us trying to forget someone. But I know I won’t be able to forget, I can only forgive.

Round and Round

Follow me down to the valley bellow. Moonlight is bleeding, out of your soul.

Let’s go on an adventure

Please, take risks.

Fear keeps us focused on our past or worried about the future. If we can just learn to overcome our fear, we can realise that right now, we are okay.

At this moment, you can hear the voices and see the beautiful faces of our loved ones. But that’s not it. Life has much deeper meaning to itself and we must fulfil it. That can only be done by breaking the limits of human imagination, by doing the impossible. You won’t know until you try.

Bubble Galaxy

Never underestimate yourself. Every idea or a thought you get is worth a lot. People often think it’s not good enough and drop it but just give it some time and take it forward. You never know what’s worth what.

Unconditional

I will love you like I love the colour blue.

Don’t hold me back

But, even if you colour them with beautiful feelings, they’ll still cry and they’ll still smile.

Coloured Hands

Yes, I’ve been failed a couple of times. There were situations where I felt this is just unreal and everything was falling apart. What do you do during these times?

Some people survive and talk about it. Some survive and go unnoticed. Some survive, heal and create.
I survived and inspired myself. Looking back tells me, I found parts of me that I thought never existed. Now, I just grow. The notion of getting better each day inspires me and I vow to help myself love life.

Remember, the pain you suffer is never wasted.

Looking for alternate place

Everyone’s talking about escaping. Always thinking. Always dreaming.

How can I make it possible

So close, yet so far.

Inseparable

You can be the ocean, I’ll be the shore.

Why

The burden is real, isn’t it?

Crooked you

Home? What does it mean? It’s different for different people.It might be a place, a thing, a moment to re-live, a feeling.

For me, it is a person.

Blurred lines

Miles apart
they sat down near a window
face against the glass
He exhaled. She knew it was him.
Never knew the names
only the eyes.
He was a clown, she had cancer,
she never cried around him
he never wore a mask.
They stared at each other
infinity in the eyes
they both saw a never-ending path
they both found destiny.
Then came the day
he was left alone but in abundance
like a shattered piece of glass
with a less comforting silence.
Rest of the life he wrote his heart out
on a paper in his diary.
It was his imagination
and her love.
And every time it rained
each conversation a paperboat
floated away with a secret tale.

Desert divers

The worst thing is watching someone drown and not being able to convince them that they can save themselves by just standing up.

It then turns to one of those upsetting moments when you lose respect for someone you really cared.

People ruin everything

One of the things I recently realised is that, people ruin beautiful things.
Travel, love, inspire, experience and tell nobody.
People expect.
People judge.
People kill happiness.

Materialistic Society

Digital lie.
People matter.
Talk to each other.
Look in the eyes instead of looking at the texts and mails.
Hold hands instead of holding phones.
Gather more moments and less pictures of those moments that you just wasted taking a picture.
Use the digital generation for what they are supposed to but don’t let it consume you.
Don’t forget that we live in a physical world where people, emotions and feelings matter.
Embrace them. Would you?

Smoke on the universe

The planet is fine.
The people are fucked.

Words

Can you see your days blighted by darkness?
Is it true you beat your fists on the floor?
Stuck in a world of isolation
While the ivy grows over the door – Pink Floyd( Lost for words)

Small world

Let’s celebrate the light and the space. We often underestimate them.

Artist: pastiche.in

I’m a Digital Artist from India, currently studying Architecture at Oxford School of Architecture. I make surreal collages to communicate ideas and emotions and I think that I’ve found a way for my brain to have orgasms.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pastiche.in/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pastiche.in/

Society 6: https://society6.com/pasticheart

by Fei Alexander

Dance With The Wind

Paradise Of Holy Sakyamuni

Monalisa

Silent volcano

The Buddha

last supper

Memory Layers

mirror

Red Echo

Love

nervously relaxing

Red impression

CONFUSED

Freedom

A Bird’s Chinese Vision

Artist: Fei Alexander

About Fei:

from an Article in the “SOUTH BAY PEOPLE” magazine- issue 1, Pg10-11, April 2004
“Easy Reader” newspaper- issue June 24th, 2004 at the ‘Easy Weekend’ section Pg 41/ Pg 47
—- By Art Editor & Journalist Bondo Wyszpolski of the “EASY READER” newspaper & “South Bay People” magazine

The hardest part is facing the blank canvas… But those two or three hours staring at the bare surface are not wasted. The visualizing is a necessary part of the process, and during these moments of seeming inactivity Alexander is contemplating what forms to use, where they’ll go, and what colors or color scheme she’ll employ. The painting is then painted quickly. Except for the details, the piece is completed in less time than she spent working it out in her mind. It is a luxury to be able to paint in this manner…

Alexander does not limit herself to one style of painting, With some artists, it’s clear that everything they create resembles or seems a variation of their other work. But if one looks at Alexander’s work it seems, at first glance, to be a collection of pictures by a variety of artists. Without actually seeing these works, some people might assume that Alexander hasn’t yet found her true calling. What seems closer to the truth is that this artist is brimming with all kind of ideas and is not afraid to explore them.

For instance, about three years ago Alexander began experimenting with the canvas itself, breaking out of the conventional square of rectangular format and coming up with pictures that, physically, had rounded or curved edges. Other canvases she separated, and then realigned or over-lapped their segments. For this writer, there is an organic sense that emerges, as if the picture is liberated out of its usual confines- and more free, too, to actively engage the viewer. For Alexander, this experimenting is a part of her notion that ‘ the fading, the dust, the peeling of a painting as time passes are all supposed to belong to the life of a painting, just like our own lives.’ Suddenly, the frame- as a protective and a decrative [sic] device- is no longer so relevant.

Over the last year or so, Alexander has taken used frames and attached burlap to the back, which hangs down well below the bottom of the frame. Often, the burlap is then braided. This is a feature that again complements or plays against the canvas, but Alexander emphasizes that the focus is still painting as painting, not painting as craft. The current work outwardly, but much of it combines modern painting technique with traditional Asian spirituality. Her intention, as she said is to invite viewers to take time to glance at their inner soul, sensibility and thought. In other words, the quiet look within may lead to self-discovery. Alexander believes that art fuels living energy, that it comes from life and reflects life. She feels, also, that although artists have the creative ability to express their emotions from different angles, they need to work hard and be willing to risk more than the usual person does when they confront and engage their inner selves. The gains may be minimal, and sometimes can scarcely be measured but the reward is in the attempt to do the best. With what is available within.

Through her painting, Fei Alexander expresses vision and heritage, the physical form and its spiritual emanation.

Website: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/fei-alexander.html

by Nola Kelsey

Some artist’s stories simply cannot be separated from one another or the canvas would be blank. I am not an overly emotional being. Not self-analytical, nor prone to spontaneous outbreaks of poetry, as many creative spirits appear to be. That was my mother,  artist/poet/teacher, Avonelle Kelsey (1931-2009), a diverse, unstoppable force in the San Diego area art scene for nearly three decades. Born to create, Mom lived life in full color. Much to her dismay, I was born fully dressed in dull beige Zoo Keeper garb – all Zoology, all the time. Life science was my true passion. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed great art, galleries, etc. After all, I was raised in her studios. But my life was 95% wildlife, 4.5% art and everything else (if there was anything else) blurred inconsequentially off to the sides. Such it was for 44 years. And then it happened.

Upon Avonelle’s death, I became responsible for an astronomical amount of artwork. I also had a significantly pesky oath. In her final years, Mom repeatedly made me swear to protect her creations. Along with that responsibility, I had inadvertently become the keeper of her creative legacy. Shit! This was not zoology. Yet, it was evolution. She finally got me.

My transformation from science fanatic to artist obsessive was startlingly was fast. A  year long art sale began with a growing intimacy to each of Mom’s paintings during multiple photo sessions.  Sculpture were matched to her written works and/or paintings. Questions were researched for collectors. So much packing and shipping. Lastly there was the book. That sneaky, buggery book. I was already an author. Years earlier my inability to play well with others had taken me from working with animals to writing about them, mostly in the form of educating travelers about animals within the pages of detail-heavy travel guides focused on global volunteer programs. But then came Mom’s book.

Working with all those images of paintings it hit me like a ton of clay. The formatting, creating of marketing materials, cover design–that was what I loved about writing books. I produced travel guides so efficiently because I was anticipating getting to the next cover design. Good news, I actually hated writing! Bam! I was back in college studying Graphic Design within a month. Three years later, I can’t imagine not creating every day. As an artist I admittedly am a fledgling,  still learning,  still growing. I am also still 4.5% zoologist,  communicating messages about nature and animals, care and conservation, but I have evolved to do so visually – much to my own dismay.

Deprived

Colorist

Naturalist

Honey

Songwriter

Birder

Ocean

Flora and Fauna

Crested Gibbon

Contemplating the Butterfly Effect

Asperger’s

Rift

About the Ostrich

Kanji Zen with Enso

Live Your Art

Nola Lee Kelsey is an American-born Digital Artist living in Southern Thailand. In addition to creating and selling prints from her own artwork, Nola also has a wide range of online shops where her digital images, and her late mother’s fine art paintings, are used to create a wide variety of uniquely artistic merchandise.

Nola Lee Kelsey Gallery: http://www.NolaKelsey.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Nola_Lee_Kelsey

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nola_Lee_Kelsey

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nolaleekelsey

Avonelle Kelsey Gallery: http://www.AvonelleKelsey.com

by Christopher Hutchinson

Frida Kahlo
http://www.biobiochile.cl/2012/11/22/frida-kahlo-un-estilo-mexicano-que-inspiro-a-la-moda-internacional.shtml

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican Surrealist painter who has achieved international popularity. She typically painted self-portraits using vibrant colours in a style that was influenced by cultures of Mexico as well as influences from European Surrealism. Her self-portraits were often an expression of her life and her pain.

http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/surrealism/Frida-Kahlo.html

Surrealisms’s love of the exotic

Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud’s structural model of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction our mental life is described. According to this model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; the super-ego plays the critical and moralizing role; and the ego is the organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego.[1] The super-ego can stop one from doing certain things that one’s id may want to do.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_super-egos

Surrealism’s interest in the exotic begins initially with surrealism’s art mission to be the artifacts of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. The exoticism presented in Freud’s Id became surrealist illustrations of the “primitive” from a Western perspective. Initially, accessing the “primitive” was merely a jumping off point, to access the inner psyche that was not so heavily governed by the stifling rules of Western painting. This use of the “primitive” is the second overtly appropriation of Africa from the West within a 20 year span from Picasso’s Cubism/African art. The “primitive” of surrealism is slightly different than the direct appropriation of Picasso. It is cloaked in the entitlement of Freud’s writings. Freud gives the surrealists permission to investigate the “primitive” that lies dormant within all humanity. We just have to access it.

This principle of Freud brings about terrible surrealist works that play on this Id/primitive concept “juxtaposed” its binary, the “norm”. Carefully composed compositions that have a jarring effect simply because object and images are not unified in a linear way. Jamming two things together that doesn’t relate to each other in any way is not an exploration. It is not a development of an aesthetic. It is at best a one-liner never to be thought of again, at its worst the work just gets swallowed up in the litany of icons like the yin and yang, tragedy and comedy symbols, and it leads ultimately boring work. It is amazing that this juxtaposition method still exists.

Man Ray 1926
Kiki-de-Montparnasse
http://www.wikiart.org/en/man-ray/black-and-white

This photograph of Kiki de Montparnasse’s head next to an African ceremonial mask bears a title that references both the black and white process of photography as well as skin color. It was created at a time when African art and culture was much in vogue. The oval faces of the two almost look identical in their serene expressions, but he contrasts her soft pale face with the shiny black mask. He simplifies the conflict of society into a problem of lighting and imagery in aesthetics – one oval next to another oval; one laying on its side contrasted with another that is erect; one lit from above and the other from the side http://www.wikiart.org/en/man-ray/black-and-white

Is Frida Khalo’s exotic inclusion to surrealism valid?

Exotic:

Adjective 1. of foreign origin or character; not native; introduced from abroad, but not fully naturalized or acclimatized: exotic foods; exotic plants. 2. strikingly unusual or strange in effect or appearance: an exotic hairstyle. 3. of a uniquely new or experimental nature: The flower show included several tropical exotics with showy blooms. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/exotic

The surrealist intentionally tried to be as exotic as possible as an indicator of their Id/primitive quality. Is Frida Kahlo purposefully attempting to be exotic? Is her every day dress a costume? Is she exotic to herself? Of course not. What has occurred here is not unique by any means to Western history. Kahlo is forcefully adopted into a vernacular that is not her own, yet she still paints honestly.   Kahlo is not just jamming things together and hoping they create something new.

Frida Khalo the two Fridas
http://www.biobiochile.cl/2012/11/22/frida-kahlo-un-estilo-mexicano-que-inspiro-a-la-moda-internacional.shtml

As with all Western discoveries, the indigenous contribution is eliminated, leaving just a whisper of a name in reference to its origins.   This forceful adoption into surrealism negates Kahlo’s actual contribution to painting. It negates her conscious choices as an artist. It negates Mexico’s ability to produce such an artist of equal standing responding to her time. It not only negates; it also validates the West’s investigation into the primitive.

Kahlo becomes proof that this Western surrealist investigation into the Id/primitive is an unbiased valid pursuit by the West. The desperate stretch to include her in such a dialogue is obvious when one considers Salvador Dali as one of the premier surrealists. Kahlo is Not Dali. Mexicans are not Spaniards. If the goal were truly to unleash the Id/primitive why wouldn’t surrealists look to African art and artists? Dali tried everything outlandish to connect with that Id/primitive by dressing and consuming the exotic. When Dali dresses up, it is a costume. Most of the surrealist artists do not succeed in more than an illustration of the Id/primitive, which in fact is ego, not Id, and sometimes especially in Dali’s work, super-ego. They do not achieve an actual connection to Id. Dali did his best to calculate and present the Id/primitive from a super-ego viewpoint.

Salvador Dali
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/The_Persistence_of_Memory.jpg

Kahlo’s paintings are a reflection of an honest narrative. She has a direct relationship with every image and object in her pieces. These objects are not juxtaposed to have psychoanalytical discussions; often times these objects are images that are needed at the moment. Including Kahlo into the canon of surrealism suggests her imagery and objects are random thoughts, playing out a clever Freudian dreamlike state.

Benjamin West the death of general wolfe 1770
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Benjamin_West_005.jpg

The stretch to tie Kahlo’s work to surrealism has more to do with using the indigenous to validate Western academia. It is a continuation of a foundation laid in romanticism’s Death of general wolfe. Benjamin West’s general has an indigenous native placed to witness and give credence to West’s good nature. The native sits beneath in a solemn respect his place not equal to the general slightly lower and of little concern.

When Kahlo is forcefully adopted into a surrealist dialogue, she actually becomes the exotic native in The death of general wolfe. Kahlo placed at the feet of surrealism only to prove its good nature, slightly lower. Once she is placed in the context of surrealism, it prevents a real analysis of her work. Kahlo’s work is honest; surrealists don’t care about honesty.

Christopher Hutchinson is an accomplished Jamaican conceptual artist, professor and contributor to the art community as a writer, critic and founder of the nonprofit Smoke School of Art. He is a Professor of Art at Atlanta Metropolitan State College and has been featured as a lecturer including prestigious engagements at University of Alabama and the Auburn Avenue Research Library. For two decades, Chris has been a practicing artist. His works have been exhibited in internationally recognized institutions including City College New York (CUNY) and featured at the world’s leading international galleries such as Art Basel Miami. He has always had an innate passion for creating spaces where Africans and people of African descent contribute to an inclusive contemporary dialogue—ever evolving, not reflexive but pioneering. This requires challenging the rubric of the canon of art history, a systemic space of exclusion for the Other: women and non-Whites, and where necessary he rewrites it. He received his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from Savannah College of Art & Design, Atlanta and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama.