Staletales: The Complexion of a Constipated Imagination

Please excuse the indulgence, if I will ever have an exhibiton of my works that'll be the title. So for lack of better things to do, I would like to share my works (circa early 1990's to mid 2000's) about a decade's worth which consist of about 30 images that are representative of the good, the passable and the bad. Only a few are extant, some I gave away as presents, most were lost and damaged by several floods years ago that inundated our house. What was saved from the floods my two young daughters destroyed.


I had a cubist hang up during the 1990's so most of my works, if not all were derivative, couple that with a marginal talent and that explains the title of this mini-exhibition. Creating something was and still is a therapy for me. Something to keep myself sane. I also dabbled with writing poetry, composed a few horrible songs and now I'm into video editing. As Mario Vargas Llosa said "When you find yourself in a sh*tstorm, art is the best umbrella."

Compliments are nice but no ego stroking necessary. Critiques will be very much appreciated. If you have any questions just ask. Thanks.

A Cubist's Nightmare

A Portrait from the Other Side

Amplexus Expecta & Minor Relief

Arabian Song-The Seduction Of Grey

Simula (Beginning)

Kiss

Confrere

Doleo, Ergo Sum (A Study)

Doleo, Ergo Sum

Dostoevsky

Einstein

Fascination Foretold

Epris I

Epris II

Nice, I really enjoy your exploration into different mediums and styles, and yet the personality of your own style shines through.

Fiesta

Half-Imagined Conversation

Head -Red & Black (Charcoal Sketch)

Lost In A Tangerine Confusion

Outside Tangerine Confusion

Mother & Child

Reclining Nude

The Runner

Repose

Sun

Ten O'Clock Pandemonium

A Seventy Second Minute

Untitled

Wired Nude

Self-Portrait

Icarus


That's all folks! Thanks.

a reply to: MaxTamesSiva

I am no afficionado but these are simply amazing. Nothing else to add, thanks for posting!

Good luck!

Nice!

For the untitled. Me, Myself and I.

P

The Tangerine confusion 2 are my favourites but I liked all of it.

Good stuff!!

a reply to: MaxTamesSiva

Whoa, great stuff! Love the kiss, Einstein and a portrait from the other side!
Minimalistic picasso comes to mind.

a reply to: pheonix358
Yes that'll be apt.

Thanks guys, you're all too kind.

a reply to: MaxTamesSiva

I really, really like the "wired" and "reclining" -nudes, could totally live with those...but the rest is none too shoddy either. You have a prolific talent. Thanks for sharing.

These are great!

I'd like to hear more about some of these pieces, like the Tangerine ones, ten o'clock pandemonium, and how your portrait style developed like what does it mean to you? What are some of the ideas behind some of these pieces? It's really cool and twisted and it feels kind of feverish and slightly insane to me personally. It's ugly but still beautiful, like a contradiction.

Your sculptures are amazing.

Thanks for sharing, nice compositions. I agree with the comment above about hearing more about these. As a fan of the Dada style and have done some of my own, for the "Half-Imagined Conversation", interested in more on that as well.

a reply to: Anaana
Thank you. The wired and reclining nudes were painted galvanized iron wires and G.I. sheet cut into strips (so is The Runner), my two young daughters twisted them beyond recognition. I don't know if they will be future artists or future art critics, they have the knack for messing with my work.

a reply to: geezlouise
Thank you, I appreciate it. Funny you say that, I tried to edit my initial post to "the good, the bad and the ugly" but it was too late. My original plan was to post around 90 images, then cut it down to around sixty and finally to 31 images. I think I already reached my quota and will never again be able to post another picture here on ATS, but I'm not complaining. So the really ugly and forgettable ones I leave out.

Regarding the two tangerine pieces, the face of the character was from a floor stain that caught my eye from the first house, actually it was just a small room that my wife and I rented when we decided to live together. We're not married at that time. I sketched it, made a watercolor study and developed it from there. The purplish book on the floor had a red I Ching painted on it's spine. I was addicted to consulting it during those years. The pink scorpion had an omega symbol on it's back. Took a picture of it more than a decade ago with a film camera with a busted light meter then scanned the album sized picture.

Ten o'clock pandemonium I sketched on a 2.5 by 4 inches scratch pad that I always carry around, we're on our way to my in-laws for the first time. We bought the cheapest ticket on a ship, meaning we have to sleep on bunker beds side by side, head to foot with other passengers with our eldest daughter who was about 2 years old at the time. We have 3 daughters. Try to imagine the place at 10 am and there you have it with a half-baked say Rene Magritte flavor. After scanning the picture, I tweaked the color balance and contrast.

The portraits I can't remember drawing them, I doubt that I was sober at that time or if I use my left or right hand. It's all basically about unloading baggage, maybe mine was bursting at the seams that needs unpacking.

I don't agree with artists that seem to force their own interpretation of their works to the their audience, to me it borders on pretentiousness. How the audience interpret it, if they even find it worth interpreting, the art critics' and the artist's own interpretations are all equally valid. That's what's great about art, the element of the unexplanable (paraphrasing Camus). In the end we can all ask ourselves the question if that really is "it?" If we happen to be satisfied with an explanation because it makes sense or we're bombarded with esoteric stuffs that's way over our head from the experts, again we have to ask, is that really it?

I love to dwell on gray areas and always try to leave a door or a window open so to speak. Life is ambiguous and that's what's awesome about it. So is art.

Maybe that's why I got hooked to cubism for years, it represents different perspectives simultaneously on a flat surface and there is also an element of violence in abstraction and distortion but don't take my word for it. Sorry for the mini-preachy rant, well you asked for it. Anyways thanks for asking.

a reply to: dreamingawake
Thank you, love the Dadaists! I love them so much that I went as far as stealing Richter's book Dada: Art and Anti-Art from the college library where I failed to finish my course. Half-Imagined Conversation is just old magazine cutouts glued to linen paper, a homage to Schwitters?

I'll be looking forward to seeing your works.

a reply to: MaxTamesSiva

Your art being an imitation with your own style making it a unique expression? I think your two works of art imitating you with their own unique expression has made them priceless to you... now hoping the world doesn't twist them into something and hoping they remain priceless is simply called parenting.

a reply to: BigBrotherDarkness
I feel like I'm lying on a couch, I hope you're not charging me for this, seriously though, thank you for your insight, it's something to seriously consider.

I wouldn't go as far as calling it unique, for lack of a better word or words, to call it a bit different will suffice. A bit different in a sense that it has the element of the familiar as to the style, forms, colors etc. I think uniqueness is highly overrated. To assign a high value to uniqueness is a perversion of perspective. Can something priceless be insured, loaned or bought? At what price?

Yet we bask, flaunt and celebrate our own uniqueness at the expense of loosing sight at what we all have in common... but this is just a theory or if you like, another perspective that can be twisted, interpreted in a number of different or unique ways.

a reply to: MaxTamesSiva

I meant the art your daughters created out of your art imitating you... so your art making art making art out of your art is what i meant to as priceless. So of course that makes 4 pieces of priceless art in your eyes yes?



Thanks for sharing your view of the world with us.

a reply to: BigBrotherDarkness
I'm turning red as a shrimp now. That's embarassing. I knew I should've asked you what you meant by it. Lesson learned.

I meant the art your daughters created out of your art imitating you... so your art making art making art out of your art is what i meant to as priceless. So of course that makes 4 pieces of priceless art in your eyes yes?

That's a nice way of putting it, but it's more of an unplanned collaboration attempt that failed. Thank you, you just gave me an idea, maybe we can collaborate more in the future.

Thanks for sharing your view of the world with us.

Just take it as a rambling of a fool.

a reply to: MaxTamesSiva

Eh no worries even when speaking the same language there are sometimes barriers through our own translator sometimes not only when being heard but speaking, so instead of saying the same thing it was best to put it another way.

I had a moment honestly wonder if the inception was going to make it any clearer or worse...

I am happy to have given back for what you have freely shared.

You got some interesting and wild talent, thanks for sharing.

I especially enjoy the cubist faces, they are very fun and I tend to lean towards cubism/surrealism too.

share as much as you would like

I really like your style! I have been thinking about getting into abstract and looking at Picasso work, I see some of that influence here plus a bit of George Braque. I'm still learning about Cubism.
Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing! What a wonderful collection. Makes me wonder the inspiration behind every stroke.

I am particularly fond of your depiction of the human face, especially curious positioning of the eyes.

After seeing these, it's a shame to think about the lost ones.