Process Statement for Japanese Series: The “Song” series is combined with photography and Japanese calligraphy. I use the digital camera mainly to photograph the subjects. Once in my computer I use Photoshop to manipulate the images – I layer several different textures over the main image and blend them together. The image is refined and then printed on watercolor paper, using a wide format Epson printer with archival pigment inks. After the printing, I highlight the image with color pencils to make it look more like painting. Then, I write the title and my first name in Japanese with acrylic paint on the print directly, and also stamp my personal chop with red ink. Finally, I coat the entire image with wax. The “Poetry” series combines photography and handwritten poem on scorched paper. After manipulating and printing the image, I write my poem in the Japanese or my spontaneous-personal language on paper with sumi ink, and scorch the paper, then attach it to the print directly. Finally, I coat the entire image with wax. My Japanese calligraphy, handwritten poem on scorched paper, and waxing transform each work in slightly different ways, making each final print an original.
Process Statement for Journal Series: I use the digital camera mainly to photograph the subjects. Once in my computer I use Photoshop to manipulate the images. I start by printing the main image on watercolor paper, using a wide format Epson printer with pigment inks. I then paint in the background using acrylics and sumi colors. After the background is complete, I attach small photos directly to the print, and I use charcoal and colored pencils to highlight and scribble down on the photo images to make them look more distressed and unique. Finally, I coat the image with wax. The completed image feels more three-dimensional with my methods, and the wax gives the image a translucent quality and texture. Painting and waxing transforms each work in slightly different ways, making each final print an original.
Process Statement for Story Series: I use the digital camera mainly to photograph the subjects. Once in my computer I use Photoshop to manipulate the images – I layer several different textures over the main images and blend them together. The images are refined and then printed on watercolor paper, using a wide format Epson printer with archival pigment inks. After printing, I use colored pencils to highlight the images to make them look more painting-like. I then attach small photos and oftentimes paintings directly to the print. I also write the title and my first name in Japanese with acrylic paint, and stamp my personal chop with red ink on some of the photo images.Finally, I coat the entire surface of the images with wax. The completed image feels more three-dimensional with my methods, and the wax gives the image a rich, translucent quality and leather-like texture. Painting, handwritten title in the Japanese or my spontaneous-personal language, and waxing transform each work in slightly different ways, making each final print an original.
