也是”心”事 / Sweet Heart

Sweet Heart. 14" X 11". Acrylic, nail polish and glitter on wood board.

上星期情人節前後,  鮮花糖果絨毛玩具和卡片上印著許許多多的甜言蜜語, 和各種不同的紅色系愛心 , 到處招惹著人們的視線. 這些溫暖人心的形狀, 令我想起去年此時一件有趣的作品. 繪畫課老師指定的創作風格, 這種風格叫 Cliché/Kitsch ( Cliche意指陳詞濫調老掉牙的一套  Kitsch是廉價俗氣 大量製造的東西).  我決定走豔俗的畫風,  從電腦檔案中找到這張我為了”現代藝術史” 準備的一系列照片.  我戴了幾頂假髮, 抓了幾個髮型, 做了不同的表情, 拿起相機對著自己左拍右拍, 其中拍出這樣一張誇張的照片. 現在看來頗讓我驚訝, 戴著發亮鮮藍假髮的女生半遮著臉淘氣瞇眼的笑著, 這是我嗎?

我只用了兩小時就把這幅14×11吋作品完成,  去了一趟美術用品店找點俗氣的靈感. 先看到一張粉粉紅紅畫滿心型的包裝紙, 買來一塊木板. 然後向Luba 借了她現有的兩個鮮藍和桃紅的壓克力顏料, 留下木板當底色, 用刮刀把心型隨手一刮, 再灑上亮光粉在髮上, 那就更豔麗了. 第二星期回來我把畫中女孩上了向女兒借來的指假油,  鮮黃色的蔻丹, 發亮的藍色娃娃頭假髮和在一旁跳動的愛心, 真是俗到夠力. 可是每個人都喜歡!  難怪 Kitsch 這詞會成為一種藝術品代表, 誰說藝術就必須跳脫世俗高高在上呢?

適逢情人節,  John Denver 的一首老歌 Perhaps Love 其中一段歌詞在歲月的記憶裡沉澱, 他說 “愛” 這東西…

對有些人來說愛像一朵浮雲
對有些人來說愛堅如鋼鐵

有人覺得愛是一種生活方式
有人覺得愛是去感覺
有人說愛就是堅持
有人說愛是要放手
有人說愛就是一切
也有人說愛是什麼 他們不知道

戴藍髮的女孩則想, 愛是酸甜苦辣混雜的滋味, 是糖果店裡的迷人的五彩顏色,  是各式可愛的心的形狀,  於是乎我就把這幅畫取名甜心!


February 24, 2012.

The words “Happy Valentine’s Day” were virtually everywhere last week.  And in every image…hearts!  This reminded me of a special art piece I did for a painting class. It was done in a style called “Cliché/Kitsch” that Celia, my teacher, had encouraged us to depict.  I used a magenta coloured wrapping paper with a heart-shape pattern as an inspiration, and a photo of myself in a blue wig, which I took for my Contemporary Art History class.  For that art history project, I’d worn a few different wigs and tried out some funky hair styles.  Then I made all sorts of expressions on my face and took photos from every angle.  I ended up using one of them for my ‘Kitsch-style painting’.  So in this painting, the subject is wearing a shiny blue wig, face adorned with a childishly playful smile.  I surprised myself – is that me?

The 14″ x 11″ painting was finished fairly quickly – within two hours – with acrylic and gel medium on wood board.  I had borrowed the bright blue and permanent rose acrylics from Luba.  I left the original wood surface as the girl’s skin tone, and scraped out the heart shapes in the background with a knife.   In the end, I sprinkled glitter powders onto the blue wig and painted the girl’s nails with real bright yellow nail polish, borrowed from my daughter.  When it was finished, I thought it portrayed the Kitsch aesthetic quite well, and I was happy when others seemed to love it!  No wonder Kitsch was able to become a unique  style of art – who said that art had to be conventionally ‘classy’ and hard to understand?

In light of the ‘Valentine season’, I have dug into the old memories of this blue-wigged lady, and have recalled a verse of an old song that I wanted to share with you.  It is sung by John Denver, called “Perhaps Love”, in which he ponders upon the idea of ‘love’ and its many sides…

Oh, love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel
For some a way of living
For some a way to feel
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t know

This song reminds me of how I feel that love can be a mixture of all different kinds of tastes and colours, just like sweets in candy store, which, during this month, all seem to be in the shape of a heart.  And so, I have called this painting  “Sweet Heart”.