A Part Of Me

My trip back home was not a needed respite from work. I did my spring cleaning or so should I say, winter cleaning and packed all the most important memorabilia I could keep, as much as the boxes provided can hold.

The mugs alone stashed in two kitchen cupboards were brimming with stories of friendships, of gratitude and regrets. They were kept not for their purposes but to remind me of their worth as moments to ponder. While I took each and one of them to be wrapped, I cannot but be brought to my past.

With all the cleaning I did, I found some of my many first, gadget wise. They were mostly given to me by an affluent aunt. They were working many years ago but with the storage period, they are now just displays of my past.

Bicycle Light with Radio

AM/FM Radio

Instamatic Camera

Scientific Calculator

I was able to keep these four as they were displayed randomly around the house. I do not recall my first mobile phone but I remember having this humongous tower like phone as a handheld one. I gave away the first TV and Stereo set I had, a 14 inch tube and a big four deck stereo made of hard plastic, China brand.

These had served their purposes when they were new and had been worthwhile to have. They gave me some comfort and the people around me were even jealous of what I had. Anyway, I am posting them to document my past. I live in the now, but I owe a lot of my learning from my past.

Art of the Brick 2

Four more works by Nathan Sawaya with his short anecdote for each piece.

CELLO: As an attempt to inspire kids to explore music, I created this life-size cello completely out of Lego bricks. Although it is the exact size as a real cello, please don't try to play it, it might look like a cello but it sounds like LEGO! (2009)

COMPUTER:  The arm reaching out is representative of the reach of technology into our lives. I built this sculpture over the course of two years. The original computer was completed in 2006, but I decided to add the arm reaching out of the screen in 2008.

PEACE SYMBOL: What does it take to create peace? All the colours in the world working together, of course! This sculpture was created using thousands of recycled bricks. (2010)

MY BOY: Loss, along with love, is one of the recurring themes in my art.  This particular sculpture was inspired from a  sad story I was told by a parent. After learning of the story, I began working on this sculpture right away, finishing it almost two months later. (2009)

My personal fave is the PEACE SYMBOL for I work in an international community of different nationalities and cultures where respect is highly expected but often not followed. I always hear racial indifferences and there are times that being Asian becomes a disadvantage rather than an asset.

So just in case I will be asked in a beauty pageant, heaven forbids, I will answer the most used answer, yet still unattainable, WORLD PEACE!

The Art of the Brick

Speaking of pursuing your inner strength to actuality, I happened to be inspired by Nathan Sawaya, a lawyer by profession, when he exhibited his Art of the Brick in Taipei last year. I marvelled at each sculpture for he used only Lego bricks to create his masterpieces. Here are some of his work with quotes underneath. 

CRACKED: I spent over three weeks fabricating Cracked out of approximately 9,000 LEGO bricks.
Also, the sculpture depicts how I feel every morning (2008)

DISINTEGRATION: Beware the winds of life that nibble away a your sense of self.
Stay strong. (2008)

STAIRWAY: As humans, we scour our world for opportunities. Opportunities for success. Opportunities for happiness. But more often than not, we find those opportunities not in the world outside, but within ourselves. This sculpture was built from recycled Lego bricks that had been donated to me. (200)

YELLOW: Probably my best known piece. Yellow always draws a lot of attention on the gallery floor, from adults as well as children. Why? I think we grown-ups appreciate how cathartic 'opening oneself up to the world' can be for our souls. And the kids? Probably because yellow guts spilling onto the floor looks cool. For me, this piece is about the metamorphosis I have been through on my journeys. (2006)

Four inspiring pieces that makes me reflect and look at my present life. 

Am I cracked within and do those cracks show when I am with people or just when I am by myself? 

Does my being disintegrate as I battle life's journeys everyday, come rain and storm? 

Am I building a stairway for my own happiness and bridging gaps amongst my friends and family? 

Is this year the time for me to finally show my yellow by opening myself up to the world?