Artist Jennifer Chan: The Inspiration of Life

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Artist Jennifer Chan creates work that shifts like summer shadows, her varied styles and mediums slip between glowing acrylic abstracts and pours to vivid, representative oil paintings of garden hibiscus and other flora, to layered and mysteriously geometric watercolors. Chan’s wide range of work always shows an assured hand, and a sense of wonder that shapes an alive and alchemic world, one that that envelopes viewers with a palette that is sometimes intensely vibrant and other times muted and liquid.

As an artist she says she is inspired by everything from the natural world to emotions and feelings. “Many things inspire me, the wind blowing on flowers or the way the light hits palm trees or dances on leaves. Sunsets and sunrises, the sound and smell of the ocean and the ocean breeze,” she relates. Other inspiration is more ephemeral to the eye. “I am also inspired by the emotions and feelings, either of great happiness or sadness or stress, and witnessind kindness.”

On the largest scales, she notes that “Every time I step into a large natural landscape or national park, [or I’m] diving into the ocean, [I am] given more ideas for more art. However, even what some people would consider the little things- – some salt and pepper shakers on a dining table, for example, could be my muse.”

In short every part of the world inspires Chan, whose work has grown over the years since she first began her practice by taking classes in oil at the Torrance Adult School.

“I love working with oil but it is quite messy. At the time, it was easy to do since you had classes once a week to allow time for the work to dry for a week,” she laughs. “I used to paint in oils, in a very photo-realistic style. Then COVID hit, and I decided to experiment with watercolors and acrylics. ”

Along with her art practice, Chan is also a healthcare professional, work which has affected her art and her approach to it. “The COVID pandemic was very stressful on healthcare workers, so that also changed my perspective of painting.” Painting became her release, and it also became a more intuitive and rapid moving process. “That [period of time] is how I progressed from being a photo-realistic artist into intuitive abstract expressionism. I also was having fun experimenting with pours, mixed media, collage and acrylics.”

Each of those mediums and styles have continued to be a part of Chan’s enchantingly diverse art oeurve. Her use of different materials also helped to carry her through the pandemic. “The pandemic was very stressful and that definitely made an impact on my work. At that point it felt like something in me clicked and I was very inspired to paint many things,” she says.

Today, Chan primarily works in acrylics, watercolor (as in her piece Hyperspace, above,) acrylic inks, and by collaging her own paint skins and other collage papers she creates herself. “I may go back into soft or oil pastel as well at some point and at some point work in oils again. I am right now liking the fluorescent acrylics as they are very bright and fun.”

Because of the fast-drying property of working in acrylic, she can work more quickly and have several paintings in progress in a series.

“I plan to do some more pouring and abstract collages. I was initially hesitant about using flourescent colors due to  possible issues regarding lightfastness. However, I feel that some pieces will be like a beautiful fresh and alive bouquet of flowers. They are to be enjoyed in their prime moment, then they may fade some. Do you prefer live or artificial flowers? I guess that would be the question I would ask [of viewers drawn to those specific types of work.]”

Chan also says that she very much enjoys creating “collages of my paint skins from pouring and ‘up-cycling’ of those products. Before I do an acrylic pour, I put paper on the table. Afterwards, the leftover paint dries and creates a paint skin that I can incorporate into more art pieces.”

Always inventive and resilient, Chan says that thematically right now she is planning on creating “more abstract landscapes, seascapes, ocean and tropical themed paintings and doing more experimentation, maybe adding some surfboards.” She is also excited to create more work using bright flourescents.

Chan was recently honored to have her art as one of those featured on utility boxes throughout Manhattan Beach – a sure way to get her art noticed in public spaces. “I am planning to apply to more public art projects. I also plan to participate in various community exhibitions including the group show for the Redondo Beach Art Group which will be at Destination: Art in July,” she attests, noting that her art studio is located at Destination: Art, and that she is also a member of the South Bay Watercolor Society. Most recently, she led a paint night, something which she found “very rewarding,” and with that in mind, she may “look into doing more teaching.”

  

She stresses that her “work is constantly changing and evolving. The sky is the limit when it comes to creation and new substrates and new materials.”

Catch the inventive, prolific, and profound artist’s work currently on view as one of three solo artists in Picnic Days now at Diversions Fine Arts in Manhattan Beach through June 28th. And be sure to follow her art journey on Instagram @jennifer_chan_art and on Facebook under the monniker Jennifer Chan Art.

On June 13th, Diversions Fine Arts will be conducting curatorial walk throughs between 12-4, in conjunction with a tea service reception at the Manhattan Beach Arts Center, and there will be a closing reception and artists talk at DFA on June 28th from 1 -3 p.m.  Don’t miss the chance to see the wide ranging and lustrous works Chan creates.

Diversions Fine Arts is located at 1069 N. Aviation Blvd. in Manhattan Beach.

  • Genie Davis; images: Davis, and as provided by the artist

Metal, Fire, and Popcorn: The Art Jewelry of Chloe Kono

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Metal, Fire, and Popcorn is a guest article by Victoria Thomas

Chloe Kono wears a Protea flower tattooed on her right shoulder. This particular Protea gazes outward from an all-seeing eye positioned in its center.

“It’s my favorite flower, and with the eye, it’s sort of like my guardian, looking out for me and watching over me,” she says. The fossil record reveals ancestors of the Protea originating on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana 300 million years ago. Their
antiquity as well as their resilience—Protea are known to bloom in the debris of wildfires—inspire Kono, a jewelry designer, to go beyond floral “prettiness” in her whimsical, often mysterious creations.

“People tell me I’m a storyteller,” says Kono, who arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong at age 18. “As a maker, there’s a message in each piece. The message is usually along the lines of slow down and rediscover the wonder and joy we felt as kids.”

Her new “SnailMail” series featuring a spiral-shelled gastropod is a witty reminder. She says she’s only recently begun setting a timer at her shop bench, forcing her to stop, breathe, and take breaks. A repetition-spurred bout of tendonitis challenged her to pause and be more intentional about her work.

Circus themes are a favorite motif in her www.Chloeography.com digital gallery, populated by popcorn kernels, pennants, candy apples, confetti and ice cream cones as well as carousel ponies and gap-toothed clowns. Kono works primarily in sterling silver
and copper, accented with cabochon semiprecious gems. As with the maniacal kitsch-sunniness of PeeWee Herman, there may be a dry irony underlying some of the work.

For instance, a popular brooch depicts a carnival rat posing as a murine strongman hoisting an enormous barbell. Her “thought bubble” earrings, created for what Kono calls her “fellow overthinkers,” are personalized with the wearer’s choice of notes-to-
self, including expletives.

In her alphabet series, “E” is for “escape artist,” an idea which Kono captures in a pair of rings joined by a chain, with a key pattern drilled into the hand. For some viewers, this may suggest boudoir restraint and release, or some other flavor of kink. What’s the
safe-word?

Kono teaches metalworking at Adam’s Forge, and will also be offering classes at Barnsdall Park, starting in July. “The best part of teaching,” she says, “and the best part of bringing my art to trunk shows, is seeing someone smile and laugh when they interact with my work. I’m a curious person, and I’m still a weirdo being amazed by some random thing, every day. So I love giving this feeling of awe to other people.”

She describes making jewelry as her own brand of therapy, and recognizes that for many wearers, a Chloe Kono piece is a much-needed dopamine hit in an increasingly grim world.

“This is also why I’m not really a minimalist,” she says. “I get the cool, serene interior vibe, but at least the way that’s usually expressed here in the States, it seems so cookie-cutter. I always want to ask, where’s the color? Where’s the texture?
Where’s the fun? Even the most subtle Japanese home has energy, created by really powerful details. It’s not just white walls and empty space.”

Kono is herself a walking poem. Dainty, petite and porcelain-skinned, she’s living proof that appearances may be deceiving. While soft, non-resistant materials—fabric, fiber, clay, paper – have typically been the realm of female artists, she’s most at home in the primordial and, well, protean, Vulcan-like, wielding steel tools and an acetylene torch blazing at around 6,000 F degrees. Kono was a Metal Major at Cal State Long Beach. Just saying “Metal Major” makes her laugh: “So badass!”

A row of abstract-seeming tattoos on her right arm depict the shapes of various types of hammerheads (the tools, not the sharks), while a set of drill-bits is tattooed on her left biceps. She explains that her right arm signifies her creative work, while her left arm
displays personal stories: the drill-bits were lent by someone she didn’t know, and the kindness has stayed with her. Also on the left arm, a storm-cloud brightened by a cartoon smile, signifying her supportive husband. She explains that her back serves as
a living canvas for a design embodying both of her cherished grandmothers. An inked portrait of a beloved ginger-orange tabby, now deported for the RainbowBridge, also lolls on the inside of her left forearm.

A volunteer at www.lifelineforpets.org cat rescue, Kono says “I’m a cat-mom with two crazy cat-boys, a pair of bonded brothers, and I also enjoy being a dog Auntie,” she says. Many of her commissioned pieces memorialize a customer’s cherished pet.

Describing herself as “fidgety” with “a busy brain,” she wiggles a stylized popcorn kernel spinner at the peak of the pendant she’s wearing, shaped like a Big Top circus tent. “I made this popcorn topper to twirl,” she said. “So when you’re anxious or bored, you canjust relax and think about the happiness of popcorn.”

  • Victoria Thomas; photos provided by the artist and Victoria Thomas

Karen Hochman Brown Creates Visionary Art

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Whether working in video, on fabric, or with a photographic palette, Karen Hochman Brown is an artistic visionary.  Her work is often hypnotic, using energetic forms and lush digital constructs. Mixing line, shape, and movement, whether she is working in time-based video or with fabric hangings that feature overstitching, her work evokes sensations of mystery and magnetism, pulling the viewer into a compelling vortex of color, motion, light, and texture.

The artist attests that she is in inspired by the work of artists such as Hilma auf Klimp, Victor Vasserely, Agnes Pelton, and Ruth Asawa as well as artists specializing in Geometric Abstraction. “Specifically for my Threads projects, I am inspired by my the women in my family who turned yarn and thread into physical creations. Starting with my great-grandmother who worked with embroidery and crochet as a trade in the early 1900s in New York City, I remember being most intrigued by the crochet work which is constructed of small thread mandalas placed in grid patterns to create larger patterns. The work was meticulous and intricate. That has carried over into my love of the geometric form. But all the women in my life (including me growing up) worked with thread one way or another, whether through sewing, crocheting, weaving, knitting, embroidery, crewel work or more.”

She explains that her work is constantly evolving “even as I circle back to older work to make it new and exciting.” She relates that she “started out as a serious artist making custom tallit (Jewish Prayer Shawls) using digitally created designs, mainly fractal work, with the designs printed on silk and fine tailoring finish work.”

That work grew as the software she was working with improved, and she began to incorporate photographs into the digital process. This led to “ten years making kaleidoscopic mandalas from [what were primarily] photographs of flowers. All the while I was developing an arsenal of virtual paint brushes designed to mimic thread-work using a different software.”

According to Hochman Brown, that is what is on view in her current work, as well as a transition from work that she made twenty years ago currently being “reborn.”

What has changed the most for her over time is her growth from doing work for herself to putting that work out into the world in galleries, transitioning from craft into art.

She notes that she is “first and foremost a digital artist. I love to get lost inside the swiftness of the computer as well as the ability to create many versions and curate down to the best versions. I love the logic of digital work. There is something about digital work, at least for me, that verges on collaboration. My work is nothing without the programers who built the software I use,” she stresses. “As their code grows, my capabilities grow as well. But it is hard to exhibit digital work in a 3D world. So I return to working with thread to bring new forms to life.”

Her current exhibition, on view now through May 30th at Diversions Fine Arts in Manhattan Beach is a body of work that she created in only a few months time. After this impressive feat, she is taking time to “learn how to use Mid-Journey or some other AI visual program to transform my artwork to a different level. I have seen some of my fellow LA artists using AI programs to advance their artwork in spectacular new ways. This is not making your dog look like a Picasso, but a workspace that only references my own work, transforming it in ways I have yet to imagine.”

What she most wants our readers to know about her work is the “links between the early garment industry and computers. The first computers were looms that used punchcards to control the heddles to create intricate jacquard patterns and brocades. I want them to see the threads between them, through the handwork of the women who raised me, into my interpretations in pixels,” she stresses.  Secondarily, she wants readers to be aware that her work is “for sale,” she laughs.

Beyond her current exhibition at Diversions Fine Arts, she will be presenting a “solo exhibition at Gallery 825 in September, where I will be showing artwork that melds my flower mandala work printed on Japanese Kinwashi paper, combined with my great-grandmother’s doilies and laser cut decorative elements.”

Diversions Fine Arts Gallery is located at 1069 N. Aviation Blvd. in Manhattan Beach. The artists talk and closing will take place May 30th from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artist and by Davis

 

 

Scott A. Trimble Illuminates Human Emotion

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As an artist, Scott A. Trimble possesses the unique capability of illuminating emotions and feelings through his palette, subject, and even within the evocative titles of his work. Each picture tells a story: his paintings are inherently narrative, both poetic and fairytale-like, interwoven with feeling, memory, and the wonder of dreams. His writerly titles lead the viewer deep into imagery that evokes two worlds: ours, and another more surreal landscape of the mind and spirit.

Trimble says that his art revolves around events, memories, and feelings, which combined create involving visual narratives that are unique and spirited. His work is inspired by “the same things that inspire me as a human being: love, kindness, and tolerance above all else. My paintings tell stories that are distilled down to emotions. Some people may find my images dark — and some of them are in fact dark. But my aim has always been to engage people’s curiosity long enough for them to find something relatable about my work.  As far as I am concerned, if that happens, then i have achieved my goal of fostering as much tolerance as possible.”

Throughout his many years of painting, he notes that his work has kept “an identifiable personality” albeit one which has shifted in approach as time goes on.  “Change is constant and unstoppable,” Trimble says, “I am not the person I was two seconds ago. Everything changes and I love that fact!”

Thematically, he says his work is “focused on love and pairing.” It’s a natural for for his work and his personal life, and the overall rebuilding process he expresses that he is going through after a year away from work due to illness. “That is my first priority. I have a sizeable stock of work,” he says, adding that, “My work is alive, meaning that I work frequently with existing paintings. If there is one you love please let us know before it gets reworked!”

Three times in the past, Trimble has reworked canvases only to find art lovers who wanted to own the original art. Like his motion-filled art, which often seems to capture a perfect, but brief snapshot in time, the artist himself is always in motion.

His prefered medium is oils. In fact, he’s never painted with anything other than oil paint. However, in his second life working in a law firm,  he has used cardboard shipping material during lunchtime hours, working with “highlighters, sharpies and whiteout” to create beautiful on-the-fly mixed media works. In case you can’t tell, Trimble is constantly creating. He is an artist’s artist, in love with the act of making art.

These small works are treasures that he occasionally gives away, and will in fact be giving some at the closing of his current solo exhibition at Diversions Fine Arts in Manhattan Beach. The show concludes with an artists’ talk on May 30th from 1:00 to 3:30. “I have a box of those handy and I will be happy to give one to anyone who is at Diversions Fine Arts on May 30th,” Trimble asserts.

Diversions Fine Arts Gallery is located at 1069 N. Aviation Blvd. in Manhattan Beach.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artist and by Davis