Batch Brewing Co. Interior
February 2022
I got to be a part of the Batch Brewing Co. renovation, and love how the painting turned out. I learned a lot during this process, and have contemplated my art, and when it's made. But more on that later.
This painting started out with line work in a grey primer. I ask the fine folks at Sherwin Williams for their advice on how to paint this thing 'cause they know infinitely more about paint and painting than I do.
And so I took their advice, and this project that I had budgeted for one day turned into three days because I listened to the painting experts. They don't know me and my style and how I paint, so I need to learn how to get more comfortable doing this stuff and get over my imposter syndrome. I'm the best at being me, but I still have a habit of trusting others because I think everyone is smarter than me. It's just different. And that's ok. I need to learn how to trust my instincts more.
Can we pause for a moment to appreciate this pour?
Yum.
I thought after painting the primer, I'd be able to lay down the white on top, and it would be fully opaque and good to go. But it wasn't. And so after going back over the primer with white, I came back on the third day to paint a second coat of white.
The result is a beautiful image. Mostly crispy, with a couple lil drippies cause its me, and even one primer drippy that didn't get covered up :)
So this goes back to the making of art.
I think this piece, even though the original painting (in grey primer) was art, I believe the process of making the lines white and crispy with two more coats of paint made this a design project. I don't think that is a bad thing, I just think for the way I create art, the retracing and "perfecting" of line to create an aesthetic is more design than art.
It may seem pretty bizarre to you that the same exact looking thing in one instance can be art, and in a different instance, that same thing can be design. This is what I think is so special about my practice. I consider myself both an artist and designer, and I'm beginning to step more into my role as a designer to build The House of Han.
In my art, I consider myself closest to a calligrapher, even though I don't write with ink/paint all that frequently. My lines are abstract and are derived from semi-figurative "characters". It's a visual language, that expresses who I am, and what I care about. The image above looks more like a drawing in illustrator with uniform lines than a single brush stroke painting where you can see the texture of every stroke.
I work in many mediums, but my calligraphic (single stroke), organic line work and sushi making are things I specialize in. I know that as time gets more and more precious, I will need to work with a small trusted team to execute projects for my clients. So I'd like to make it clear, that I'm not a painter or a graffiti writer. I'm an artist and designer.
I've already had the pleasure of working with Ed Irmen on a project for The Stash, and will hire him and others, to execute murals that I design with clients for commissioned works. What's unique about my practice is that the art isn't created in the final image, but in the gesture (the journey; or a moment of the journey). The organic composition, and the energy created during that process is my art. Filling in those brush strokes to create smooth opaque lines turns the work into design.
So I've decided that for future mural projects, I will paint digitally to capture the moment of organic composition, then hire professional painters like Ed to execute the artwork, because in most instances, clients who pay for murals want the crispy line. For those who want a single stroke painting done in large scale, I'm happy to oblige.
With all that said, I'd like to thank Stephen, one of earliest Detroit friends, who has supported my practice from day one. He hired me for a project along side Shades, Tony Roko, and Cedric Tai when I was just getting started and they were all already great artists. He had vision, and appreciated my work even though I didn't have a big name or fancy clients.
He's got the biggest heart, and has created something so special for Corktown and Detroit. I'm honored to be a part of it.