"love, kt" is about self-discovery. recently, i decided to become an artist full-time. it was an inspired realization. i am excited about the prospect. however, there was one problem, i couldn't really tell what i wanted to do. i just knew i wanted to make things. i thought about the many talented creators i knew in my life and thought i could ask for their help. first i thought about just calling them. and then it dawned on me that i could use my plea for help as a creative process in itself. i would give my creator friends art in return for their guidance.
i had also been teaching a class on asian american art at the time, where a student, inspired by "postsecret" had created a mail art piece about secrets of asian americans from a historical standpoint. i have always loved mail art, from the fluxus-inspired tire-mailing absurdists, to recent virtual galleries of mail art. in a time when you can send almost anything over the internet, there is something intensely substantial about the physical and tactile nature of mailing something through the post. many people would handle the art, make marks on it, read it. it could get lost. it could become marred. but it would acquire a history of all the places it passes through, collecting bits of dirt and dust from post depots. it is analog at its best. this gave it a certain additional gravitas, one that i thought would contribute to my journey of searching for aesthetic and creative direction.
i decided to use postcards and found 5"X7" watercolor cards at the art supply store. this would be my canvas.
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i brainstormed a list of people in my life who i consider to be "creators." this includes traditionally recognized "artists," such as painters, choreographers, actors, directors, composers, instrumentalists, creative writers, poets, performance artists, etc. i decided to include people who may not be professional artists, but who i knew "made things." this included people who were crafty, people who could garden, etc. i also included many of the academics i knew, because they all write and are under pressure to "produce," even if their products are not readily recognized as "art."
i made a second, smaller list of those people on the list whose addresses i could find. this was a list of roughly 50 individuals.
then i began to create. each piece would be inspired somehow by the recipient. sometimes that meant that i emulated the type of work that they have done in the past. sometimes i have based the piece on a conversation we had, or an environment we have worked in. other times, i just remembered a very small detail about them that i extrapolated into my piece.
i tried to create as quickly as possible. the faster i made things, the less i would become bogged down with the editor and censor in my mind--this was one of the main goals of my process. many of the pieces had sketches or drafts i created and then transferred to the postcard. some pieces took the span of several days to finish. others took literally 5 minutes. some revolve around an esoteric inside joke. others are very obvious. the medium was open. i was particularly surprised by how drawn to inks (both india ink and japanese calligraphic ink) i am.
as i created the front of cards i thought about what i could write on the back text of the card that would convey the reason for the pieces. i considered photocopying text onto the back of every card. but then i realized that handwriting all the text--even if it differed very little from piece to piece--would convey better the meditative and community building ethos i had put into the concept already. this is what i came up with.
as i write this, the piece is still in progress. i have completed the front of many cards, but not written the text on the back. the list grows as i find new addresses or realize the creative inclinations of some friends. i will continue updating this page at least once a week with every batch of cards i send.
note: i have kept the recipients anonymous to protect the identity of those receiving unsolicited art. if you are the recipient of one of these pieces and wish to become un-anonymous, just let me know and i will show your piece with your name attached.
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