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Noodles — Landmark Photo Salon
Installation at the New Chinatown Barber Shop
11x12x3', ©2002
Photograph from Noodles installation
11x14", ©2002
I am, among other things, a set designer for theatrical productions. My training in theatre led me to become an artist and to begin creating art. The combination of thinking as a set designer and photographer has evolved me into a mixed media installation artist.
In set design, environments are created to serve as the location for the action of a play, as well as to provide a vehicle in which themes and characters can be understood. The set is the context for action to take place. For this backdrop designed for Landmark Photo Salon, the inanimate is given a new persona through the process of photography. By focusing on details and textures, abstracted through enlargement, the rice noodles, purchased from the Ai Wai Market on Hill Street, were taken out of their cultural context, and re-introduced to the viewer as something surreal and monumental, thus to invite participants to interact with this setting, and re-discover its origin, which might have been overlooked.
The nature of set design requires me to research and become familiar with many different cultures, time periods, and ideas on a regular basis. Each project I am involved with is a continual source of ideas and inspiration for me. These influences have led me to work in many art forms such as animation, architecture, photography, sculpture and installation. I constantly experiment with new mediums and combinations of materials and have gained experience in a variety of related professional disciplines. I remain dedicated to working in many professions simultaneously and would like to use my work experiences to continue to develop the technical skills necessary to produce conceptual artwork with a high level of craftsmanship.
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