I interviewed award winning New York-based, Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu a little while back and asked her whether she missed living in Japan and if she thought her cross-cultural heritage has influenced her artwork? ‘No I don’t. I haven’t gone back to Japan since I moved to New York in 1999. I partially grew up in upstate New York, and after I went back to Japan in the 80s, I couldn’t adjust back to their culture anymore. I was just waiting for the right time to get out, and I did, and I don’t miss it. I have to admit that my genes have an accumulation of Japanese history and culture, and it comes out in my work whether I like it or not. At first, I hated it and tried to get out of it. After a while I decided to admit who I am and just let my work be the way it should be. After that, it became easier to create. Sometimes people think I am drawing and using colour certain ways to stress my Japanese background, but it is not how it is. I don’t even think about it. It just works out that way’. [see also Yuko Shimizu; Deanne Cheuk]
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Also by ZOLTON
Ok, so I’m wearing this t-shirt right now. It’s by Singapore-based fashion label Hooked Clothing, and it’s just about my favorite tee at the moment. Why? Why not. Tees are fun and Hooked has me hooked. Read more
Following on from the People of Walmart website, comes People Of Public Transit: ‘The public bus and subway systems are littered with amazing photo opportunities. Many of us have been sitting alone witnessing something amazing and only wishing we could share the experience with our friends. Well now you can!’ Read more
Milk and Honey necklace by Stephanie Simek
Milk and honey, an indubitable pair. In this necklace by Stephanie Simek, a golden honeycomb beeswax pendant is encased in plastic and hangs from an oxidized sterling silver chain. The links are interwoven with a milk protein-based fiber. We have it for sale in our online store.
HAVE YOUR SAY
I met Caroline Thaw at Brooklyn’s Third Ward in one of the courses I taught. The first time I saw samples of her work, I was happily overwhelmed by her diversity of styles, her cute yet twisted characters, the radiant and infinite beauty in every piece she made, her delicate line, and her strong sense of style and scenographic space. Part of her work’s charm comes from her experience in theater design designing sets and custumes for productions that traveled around the world (she is from England, originally), and her tremendous love for kids.
Beijing-based band Hanggai write original songs in the traditional folk styles of their Mongolian ancestors — throat-singing, horsehair fiddles, lutes — spearheading an Asian version of the old-time revival. Though it’s only through the digital age that the rest of the world can access this beautiful music, it makes you want to slow down and reflect on what we’ve lost as a species. This stuff makes every flavor of the month indie band seem vapid and meaningless.
GeekStiff4U is offering some pretty nifty, hand-crafted, skull-shaped USB flash drives that can be worn as rings. The $156 price-tag may ward off non-geeks, but that’s the point. This item is only for people really committed to transferring data in style.
There’s a shop on Smith Street in Melbourne where all young designers go to live. In.cube8r supports all things craft and handmade in Melbourne, running like a long-term market, with the gallery divided into different areas that the artists lease for a tiny cost. There are more than 75 of Melbourne’s top crafters on show and the gallery is always looking for new designers.
If animated wall drawings of severed heads and insect men ejecting their brains from their craniums is what people produce when they have too much time on their hands, then we should do their laundry for them and cook them dinner so they’ll have even more time on their hands.
There’s a fun range of prints up on the Boo Ware site, a Sydney based t-shirt label that began selling at the legendary Paddington Markets in 2003. You can still find them there every Saturday morning. Their tees are ’soft and comfortable with original, quirky prints’.
The Boston Globe has posted some pretty phenomenal pictures taken from the space shuttle Discovery during its recent mission. It’s almost impossible to imagine that one day views like these could become mundane. Read more
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WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Hong Kong-based illustrator Man-Tsun draws dark and beautiful painterly images that look like they are straight off a high-end Japanese animated film. Read more
Richmond-based graffiti artist Chip7 has a style that is at once urban and also vaguely tribal with their crude lines and rich patterns. Read more
Italian-born, New York City-based photographer Paolo Ventura creates fairy-tale like pictures out of amazingly constructed, miniature dioramas that almost trick the eye into thinking he’s a tilt-shift photographer. Read more
There is not a medium that UK illustrator Lizzy Stewart cannot wrap around her little finger to make the most beautiful, whimsical images. Read more
Almanac Market in Philadelphia is slightly pricey, but you definitely get what you pay for. Offering fantastic bread, cheeses, produce, and cured meats such as sopressata and pepperoni, it was a great pit stop when my band played in town, and definitely more economical and tasty than hitting a greasy spoon for road snacks.
Wolfmother. Rock n roll. Mystical lyrics. Heavy riffs. They have a new album out, Cosmic Egg, and we have five copies to giveaway, along with their debut album. To enter, tell us your favorite Wolfmother song and the city you live in. Yo! Two fingered salute. Read more
Australian fashion label Das Monk is my new favourite t-shirt label and this shirt is more comfortable to wear that a thousand pairs of Ozone socks. Super soft 100% cotton. Grab one now from the Lost At E Minor store for $35. Read more
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Margherita said | 23 November, 2006
I love the colour