Ho Chi Minh

My painting of Ho Chi Minh came about from the reading of the Russian people and folk songs being oppressed. I wanted to paint someone who inspired me - and although it is controversial for me to say, Ho Chi Minh or Nguyen Ai Quoc (Nguyen the Patriot) is one of those men. I came to know Ho Chi Minh because my friends in Orange County were Vietnamese. Most of their parents absolutely hated him without much reason. I researched who he actually was, and I concluded that he has got to be one of the most courageous and honorable man. 

This was an image that came to mind when we were singing Cherny Veros in class.

Erosion

In the reading of Sergei Aksakov, he speaks of how Russians like to watch water running and eroding the landscape. This project captures this visual movement of water and erosion overtime, through providing a lagoon that has slowly been eroded over time.

Beer Bottle Water Bells (Minor Scale)

In reading El Sur, I liked the abstraction of the water note of the cistern. Although I have no musical background, I always wanted to make a musical instrument. The bottles you see are filled with different volumes of water. The more water you add, the lower pitch you produce. The ripples are associated with the notes and the type of frequency they produce. Bass notes have a very low amplitude while treble has high amplitude.

Unrequited Love

Both reading had the same theme of unrequited love. I wanted to capture that feeling (of a shattered heart) in an architectural fashion.

Some of the best things in life are Free

In the reading, Leopoldo Lugones - Coplas, the author is a poor man who is pursuing a girl. She does not care about how materially wealthy he is, as she tells him that he is "Poor, but a generous guy; Just like the tail bone, not much meat, but full of flavor..." I wanted to relate to how the poor romanced, as I am a poor college student. Poor people can't afford expensive dates, so they go to places that are free. The bridge is something of public access yet it provides an awesome view. In my own experience, I had some of the best dates going to places like this.  

Extragalactic Jets

The reading of El Canto del Viento contained attributes of a cyclical life, as Athahualpa's speaks of the life and death and life again with the Zamba and songs of Tucuman. I thought of a black hole, as a black hole is a symbol of life and death and life again. It swallows everything in its path including light, however, it expels extragalactic jets that create new planets and galaxies. I compared myself to a black hole in the sense I'm taking in experiences and information of all kinds, and I have my own extragalactic jet that expels my experiences to other people forming new relationships and touching other things to question and to learn.

Eastern Jesuit Sanctuary

This project was inspired from the reading of Hudson's Naturalist. I created this on Ash Wednesday, so I wanted to incorporate a church. I thought of a radical design - nothing ecclesiastically conventional, so I thought of the Jesuits since they're radicals of the church. The indoor garden and meditative space is a new take on the interaction within the space of a church. The Eastern Japanese influence comes from my Japanese background; Japan is country that is close to my heart.