beijing okay

好运水果 （luck fruit)
12"x12", oil on canvas

There are a number of lucky fruits for the Chinese, including the peaches, oranges and pomegranate above. Most of these are lucky since their names are homophones for something else like "wealth" or "long life." (Chinese is full of homophones.) Others, like pomegranate, mean the continuation of the family line because all the many little seeds represent people. For this reason, it is a popular offering fruit in Chinese ancestor worship.

I painted the actual still life in a couple hours, but spend a day or two after it dried thinking about the background. The look of it as a whole is similar to a lot of cheap, plastic tablecloth or "food posters" here that convey the idea of plenty using cut and paste food images, kitschy/tacky bright colors and patterns. This goes along with some others I'm working on, all the same size with similar themes, which are really exciting and should be finished by the end of the weekend. (When I actually have some time to paint.)

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untitled

oil on wood, around 16" x 24"

Altogether, I've made three paintings like this one that have some kind of slightly dramatic/funny "culture confrontation" in them. (The other two, made months ago, are portraits of Masa and Silvia.) I really don't think this one is finished since the lower right hand corner is distractingly empty and Ariel's face needs more work. I'm losing interest in this particular painting or series, regardless.