This is my latest experiment on the road to developing a possible art style and conceptual framework that I might pursue in the future. Completed in April, it follows on from January’s Silence artwork, and breaks out of the all-pencil mould to play around with different mediums and colour.

I’ve written more about this experiment over on Patreon, but overall it was an interesting exercise and has given me plenty to think about going forward. Honestly, it’s so difficult to make decisions here! There’s a lot of potential in pursuing so many different aspects.

Perhaps the one thing I definitely dislike is the way the standard blue texta looks, undoubtedly due to its obvious lower quality, but otherwise I’m quite happy with how this test turned out. I can always switch to better materials once I begin to pursue this style and concept more seriously.

It’s also been interesting to hear a suggestion via my Facebook page that links this work to the previous Silence work. Connecting stories between different works is definitely a worthwhile idea and something I’ll be considering more seriously as the greater project takes shape. This also potentially works well with my general plan to incorporate an increasing amount of more meaningful text into my style, as per the suggestions of my teachers back in art school.

I will admit that it’s been hard to stay focused over the last little while, however it’s still exciting to see some progress in this idea. I just need to find a little more self-discipline to help it all pick up a little bit of steam. Improving my time management also wouldn’t go astray – I have too many interests and too many projects to be allowing myself to stay as distracted as I have been!

Thanks for reading, and to keep up with my shenanigans, please consider following me on social media – search for DestroyerMariko on your preferred platform, or check out the links under my Contact tab. x

For the third year in a row, my art made it into the Artists of Mosman: 2088 exhibition! Of the works I submitted, this time my portrait of my brother’s dog titled “Playful Marley Rolling” was the one to get in! I think it’s kinda nice that I’ve now had portraits of myself, Hope, and Marley shown at the local gallery, that’s pretty much a whole set!

So once again, I attended opening night, this time on March 29th. Being later in the year, this meant cooler weather, so I was able to wear my new lolita fusion kimono from Punk Rave Australia! It’s always fun dressing up in this relatively conservative area, though I looked a lot cuter this time so the reaction was less disapproving and much more curious. Twice I was approached by members of the public, asking if I was an artist and which painting was mine (#73 in this year’s catalogue). Most surprisingly, both people later followed up with me to compliment me on my artwork and further appreciate my outfit. As an interesting side note, I think the outfit also really highlighted some of the more Japanese aspects of my personality, as it seems I subconsciously default to receiving compliments with a slight bow and other mannerisms associated with Japanese modesty, but this was the first time anyone had ever seemed to notice and remark on it. It’s easy for me to forget I’m half-Japanese sometimes, but every now and then something like this happens haha!

Here are some photos of my outfit on the night:

I also have some photos with the speakers who opened the exhibition! My friend Judy came as well, and after we’d taken selfies with my painting, we headed downstairs to listen to the speeches by Mosman Mayor Carolyn Corrigan, who recently ran as an independent in the NSW state election, and Wendy Whiteley, former wife of artist Brett Whiteley. I had planned to leave after speeches were over, but with Judy’s encouragement and enthusiasm, ended up at the front getting photos taken and talking about my outfit. I was even asked if I was a fashion designer, haha I wish I could have said yes, I really love this kimono!

As always, there’s a lot of art on show this year! Nearly 200 local artists across various mediums, even including video. If you’d like to check it out, Artists of Mosman: 2088 is on display at Mosman Art Gallery until Sunday 28 April.

Thanks for reading! And if you’d like to see more of what I do, you can find me on any of the links below!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/destroyermariko
Just want to send a one-off tip? https://www.paypal.me/MarikoGray

Website: https://www.destroyermariko.com/
Music: https://destroyermariko.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destroyermariko/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestroyerMariko/
Tumblr: https://destroyermariko.tumblr.com/
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DeviantArt: http://destroyermariko.deviantart.com/

My bands:
Rainbow Death Ray on Bandcamp: https://rainbowdeathray.bandcamp.com/
Rainbow Death Ray’s website: http://www.rainbowdeathray.com/

Here we are with another puppy painting, but this time it’s my brother’s Labrador, Marley. We’re not entirely sure how old he is, we got him back in 2013 from a rescue shelter when he was around two years old, but no one knows for certain. In any case, he’s now at least 7 years old, yet his playfulness has only increased over time! We suspect he was abused by his previous owners, so as he settled into our family and then became increasingly confident of his place in a loving environment, he’s continually opened up to expressing more of his playful puppy self, a self that may have been suppressed or even punished in his past. We don’t know for sure, but it’s been an incredible journey with him – when we first met, he would flinch if anyone made a sudden move, apparently afraid someone would hit him… whereas now he will actively seek out our hands to pat him, even nudging under them and leaning into us to maximise that connection!

Another thing he likes to do is roll about on his back, asking for tummy rubs, or sometimes just for the fun of it, and that’s what I’ve depicted in this painting. The inspiration came just after we’d installed a new vinyl floor, one which looks like wood, but is noticeably softer to walk on compared to what we had previously. I cannot pretend I know what Marley thought of the whole thing, only that he took to it immediately, happily rolling about, glancing up at me like this was the best thing ever! It’s at this point that I snapped the reference photo that eventually lead to this composition.

This was a particularly challenging painting for me to complete however. When I painted my portrait of Hope last year, well he was in the sun, so his white fur was even whiter and brighter than usual – relatively easy to handle – and the rest of his features were pretty well defined in patches of black, brown, and grey. Marley, on the other hand, is in theory a single-coloured “yellow” Labrador, but in practice, his fur features different shades of orange-brown, without any very clear points of distinction separating different sections, not helped by the layers of undercoat that seem to vary in shades as well. On top of that, I was painting him upside-down, exposing the rolls of his neck which create their own odd areas of light and shadow. But beyond the difficult colours, I also just had a huge struggle even drawing him in the first place. Hope, in his portrait, is essentially just an oval with ears. Whereas Marley was a whole lotta shapes all put together.

I had to take a different approach to this painting. You can read about my process and see some “making of” photos here.

In any case, I’m both surprised and happy with the results on this one! There seriously was a point about halfway through where I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. But as with my previous Hope painting process, I just persisted, adding layer after layer and refining it each time, until suddenly I took a step back and realised it was actually improving, and soon after, finally done! It feels like such an achievement to me, to be able to complete a painting like this, so far out of my perceived set of skills. An intimidating challenge, but you have to step out of your comfort zone in order to improve.

So now I’ll be pairing this painting with Sunny Hope Dreaming, and taking it up to enter them in the local gallery show. Cross fingers they like what I’ve done! These paintings are not for sale however – I’m too attached to them! Not just because they’re my family, but also because of what they represent to me as an artist, overcoming my doubts to paint better than ever before.

A few weeks ago I shared this artwork on my Patreon, original on the left, edited version on the right:

Well, I forgot to upload my work-in-progress pictures! But since Patreon is kinda bad for uploading multiple images anyway, I’ll put them here – you can view them all at once in the gallery, or click for a larger view.

As you can see, it started from a sort of outline of where the silence would be, along with a square-ish diamond from which the rest of the lines and shapes grew. It was tempting to stop at times throughout the process, whether to leave it with a chaotic ball floating in the sky, or as a cascade of shapes falling down onto the silence, but in the end I’m happy that I went all the way!

So that’s how this work grew. Once completed, I then scanned it into Photoshop to create the inverted version. It’s a pretty cool effect!

Let me know what you think, and if you’d like to know more about this work, you can read my original post over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/silence-january-24099692
The post is publicly viewable, and includes details on what the artwork is about, as well as where I might take it in the future.

Thanks for checking this out! And yes, for those of you who have already seen my Patreon post, I am at the time of writing still looking for a band! If you’d like to get in touch about a possible project, please use my contact form to email me, or you can find me on Facebook and my other social media.
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My latest painting once again returns to one of my favourite subjects: my dog Hope. He’s a Maltese-Chihuahua, and I love his adorable antics. Today though, he’s curled up in the sun having a snooze, and I can’t help but wonder what he dreams about.

This is my first acrylic painting in a while, but even though I don’t practice as much as I should, I feel like each time I still get a little bit better, and I always learn something new. In this painting, I actually made a conscious effort to start with the background for a change. I also came to appreciate just how much I prefer wood panel (aka artist board) over working on canvas, and I feel like I’ve finally got the hang of glazing. I’m still struggling with some aspects of colour mixing, but I’m aware that upgrading my paints would make this a lot easier, when I can afford to make the switch.

In any case, I’m really happy with the result! I still often struggle to see myself as an artist, and I tend to underestimate my skill, so it was actually a surprise to step back and see my painting for what it is. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over this phase of self-doubt, but I’m hoping to work on more paintings in the new year. I’ll also hopefully get around to uploading some of the other art I’ve done this year! It’s funny how time gets away from you, and procrastination sets in. Haha, sounds like I’ve already got some new year resolutions brewing without even trying!

If you’d like to read more about my process in creating today’s artwork, check out my post on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sunny-hope-23607588

I’ve also made a video blog about it, which you can view here:

Speaking of, I totally forgot to post on my own website about my vlogging! I recently completed “Vlogmas”, where you upload a daily vlog from the start of December through to Christmas. It was tough, but I did it, and actually had a lot of fun! If you’d like to catch up on that, the entire playlist is available here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcnGYCY37VxDsuCziA_lEx_I5RwZWYgwC

That’s all from me for now! Thanks so much for checking out my art, and I hope you have a great 2019!

This week I went back to looking at visual art because my good friend Edmond Thommen is currently exhibiting in Surry Hills! The exhibition is called “Tela Umana” which means “Human Canvas” because he and his co-exhibitor both use the human body and layers of texture to create their photographic works. Edmond has also been a long-term supporter of my poetry, and a number of his works feature my words as his titles. It’s always interesting and exciting to see how he transforms my text into thoughtful images to express powerful emotions. I also enjoy our long conversations about everything from art and music to politics and philosophy, and I always learn something new as well. This time he showed me how he handles payments for his artwork, as well as his note taking regarding exhibitor numbers and public feedback, and also the logistics of holding a show in the M2 Gallery. This sort of thing could be really useful for me if I go on to exhibit more in future, and the payment technology could even be applied to my music practice because of its applicability to running band merch stands. So this was easily my best gallery visit of the semester – not only did I get to see some great art, but I learned a lot as well, and had a great time hanging with Edmond.

Overview of the gallery: Edmond’s works, hung salon style

Lori Cicchini’s works, some look like paintings but they are actually all photographs that have undergone digital manipulation.

It’s interesting how different it is to see the images in real life vs on small screens. It really does change the experience a lot to be there. As for the gallery, M2 really seems like a good one for a small group exhibition some day. You do need to mind it, but they don’t take commissions on the artwork you sell, and it has four distinct divisions that would make it very easy for four artists to show together while maintaining their own identities. It’s also right near Central Station, with lots of people going past. A really cool little space!

Tela Umana is on until May 22, open 12pm-7pm every day.

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I also dropped in to see one of my fellow Capstone Project students at her exhibition. Sasha Mishkin’s “Making Home” is currently on at Kudos Gallery.

This exhibition looks at what a living space can say about those who occupy it, with a specific focus on migrants who live in Sydney. It features 14 photos and one video, focusing on 7 different families. It was a little bit difficult for me to form a proper impression of the works, because I have been watching their progress in class, but I like the way that Sasha has set them up in the space, and I am also impressed with her video subject, who sat for 5 minutes looking at the camera as a sort of living and breathing portrait. It was the first time I had seen the video, and it was a really neat solution for how to use the Kudos stage space. But I think the work I connected with most was #9, “Where I am is who I am” (2), because as I was looking at it, I spotted some children’s books on the shelf that were in Japanese. Moments of nostalgia like this always remind me that I am actually mixed-race, and bring back memories of childhood and also highlight some of the cultural differences present in my family life that other Australians don’t experience. Most people only see me as being white, so that’s how they treat me, and that makes it easy for me to think I am the same so that I don’t even realise that some of my mannerisms are actually Japanese. For example, I only realised when talking to a Japanese friend at uni that other English speakers don’t really say 「え」 (“eh” meaning “huh”) the way I do, which turns out to be a much more Japanese thing. So it’s not surprising to have that work make the biggest impact on me.

You have to see it in real life to get the detail of the books. Making Home is on until June 2, Wed-Fri 11am-6pm; Sat 11am-4pm.

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As for my own Capstone Project, I’m doing the first of my two performances this weekend!

May 20th: Chicks With Picks
Sydney’s open mic and showcase events for woman fronted acts
4:30pm – 11:30pm
The Townie (next to Newtown Station)
326 King St, Newtown
Click here for the Facebook event page

I’ll be on stage at 7:20pm, performing songs from my Asexuality concept project. It’s my first time performing solo, and under my artist name, DestroyerMariko.

I thought I’d take a break from music gigs this week and go to a gallery. Part of this is because one of the shows was by our fellow student, Karolina Partyka, so it was fun to be able to go and support a friend. But other than that, I’ve also been thinking about what I should do with the visual side of my creative practice once I finish the course. This is actually the first semester in which I’ve returned to my music practice, and I’m already feeling much more confident about getting back into that, whereas I still feel that my visual practice is lacking and I’ve been consistently terrified of the idea of trying to apply to a gallery for an actual show. But after this week’s lecture from Elizabeth Reidy, it actually sounds less scary, especially when she mentioned the number of applications vs acceptances. For the Bondi Pavilion Gallery, it seems you have about a 25% chance of getting in, which is vastly better odds than I had expected. Funds permitting, I’m hoping to take the rest of the year off after I finish uni, so I might actually have the time to start taking some of this stuff more seriously, and for that reason, I need to make sure I don’t just focus solely on music.

So here are some photos from the opening at Kudos last night. I spent most of my time in the back half of the gallery where Karolina’s Foreign Lands exhibition was. She had a really diverse array of works on show, including photography, video, installation, and VR. There were also some interesting lighting choices that helped set the atmosphere and also distinguished her exhibition from Ruins in the front half of the gallery.

Native, 2016
Single channel projection, single channel audio, pencil & watercolour on paper, ceramic, glass dome, red desert sand, petri dishes, seeds, dimensions variable.

This is one of those ones you really need to go and see to get a proper sense of it (all of them are really haha, that’s how Karolina’s practice is), my photo barely shows you anything of what this work is. The video projection shifts between different translations of the word “Native”, and in front of it are what appear to be specimens of early crops in an imagined human colony on Mars. On the left is a mock up of a crop growing in Martian soil, in the centre, a botanical drawing of a crop adapted for Martian conditions, and on the right, seed samples of 6 different early Martian crops. I personally have some disdain for our obsession with going to Mars, I tend to think we should fix our planet first, but it is interesting to think about how a future society might look back on our earliest steps on the red planet. Karolina’s museum-like work gives you a hint of how that experience might one day be.

For an earlier iteration of this work, and artist statement, click here.

Top: Ancestral Ritual (That Which No Longer Needs To Be Carried), 2017
2 channel video, single channel audio, dimensions variable.
Bottom: Annulment, 2017
Red desert sand, water, ink, dissolving stones, vine cuttings, netting, bowl, light, dimensions variable.

Tucked away around a corner are these two related but separate works. I was already familiar with the top work, which you can view here, but I completely misunderstood the bottom one! At the time, the gallery was already filling up with a lot of people, even though I was relatively early to the opening, so I didn’t get a chance to really read the text, but I took a photo of the label so I could work it out later. Turns out those little rocks are dissolvable! You’re supposed to take one, put all your traumas into it, and then release it into the water to dissolve away. And yes, in case you were wondering, the instructions do ask you not to eat them, although they are non-toxic and food safe!

Speaking of labels, I really enjoyed the way Karolina’s were done. They appear to be clear adhesives attached to the wall, which seem like a neat solution. One of my problems with the Ruins exhibition out the front was that there were no labels at all, only a very short statement accompanying the long list of works, so I struggled to understand what was going on. We also had this problem in our exhibition at Gaffa last year. I know that the general public statistically doesn’t spend that much time reading labels, but I struggle to appreciate art on its own, so I like it when there are decent labels present to explain it for me. (Although it helps if there are less people around so I can read them in peace! I guess that’s another reason I’m not usually a gallery-openings type of person.)

An earlier iteration of Annulment can be viewed here.

Various photographic works (obscured by all the people coming to the opening!)

I didn’t spend much time with the photos, so I won’t say much. The drinks bar was just outside the door so people tended to congregate in this area, and I freely admit that I preferred to avoid people as much as possible haha. But I think I also just find it easier to walk past photos generally, compared to video works which require you to spend more time with them to see what’s going on. You can see the Land Mythology work online here, but Outer/Other is a newer work so it doesn’t seem to be online yet.

Endsville, 2018
4 channel video, single channel audio, dimensions variable.

I also didn’t spend a whole lot of time with this one because it was in the same space as the photos, but from my quick read of the label, it was about utopias and compared various visions of this concept alongside each other using public domain videos. This is also a newer work, so it’s not online yet either.

Mars Barren, 2016
Virtual reality projected space, plywood, acrylic medium, red desert sand, acrylic paint, dimensions variable.

When you walk in, you see this:

Then you pick up the object and point it at the wall!

Ta-dah! Virtual reality but without having to wear those silly glasses! And it gives a neat explorer vibe, like you might be in a cave, despite the projection showing an outdoor scene. I just really enjoyed the atmosphere in this dark red room, and the interactivity probably made this the most engaging work for me. You have to be involved to be able to see what it is, and the narrow view provided by the projection prevents the game from being given away too quickly. I don’t know if the surface of Mars was necessarily the best subject matter to go with this style of presentation, but I honestly didn’t care, it was fun being able to actually touch the object, feel the texture, and play with the projection. It’s also just an impressive bit of technical juggling, to get all these components to work, and I admire Karolina’s determination to create things like this because it’s exactly the kind of stressful undertaking that I would run a mile from!

You can see an earlier version of this work here, along with the full spherical view, but honestly you should just run down there and play with it for yourself, it’s heaps more fun and worth doing!

Papers I collected

Well I photographed the back of the Ruins page by mistake, but if you look at Karolina’s text, the Ruins text was about a third of that before the list of works starts. I do wish the Ruins one had explained a bit more, particularly in the absence of labels in the gallery, but what can you do. I’m mostly just excited by Karolina’s promotional postcard. It’s A5, with gloss finish on one side, and looks heaps professional and probably cost a bit of money to get done! I think the reverse writing was also an entertaining choice, as I saw people trying to view it in a reflection just for fun, but at the same time it’s also surprisingly easy to read backwards which is cool.

Ruins
Not to be neglectful of the other exhibition, here are some photos of Ruins. But I can’t really explain what they are, because I was a bit confused by the small amount of text. I’m also not a huge fan of exhibitions that have very small photos spaced very far apart. On the upside though, it did create a neat little foyer of relative calm between the entrance and the hyperstimulation of Foreign Lands.

Foreign Lands and Ruins are both on show at Kudos Gallery until May 12.

Gallery opening hours:
Wed – Fri 11:00am – 6:00pm
Sat 11:00am – 4:00pm

6 Napier St, Paddington NSW 2021

Hope Playing Under My Bed (BW)
Exhibition Catalogue No. 71
Acrylic on board, 20cm x 20cm

It’s that time of year again! You may remember my first entry into the Artists of Mosman: 2088 exhibition last year. Well, it’s back on and I’m back in! This time with a painting of my dog Hope, when he was a puppy. You can read more about the work here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/16943987

This year’s exhibition was a bit smaller than last year – of approximately 260 entries, only 187 made it in. There was also no wall of puppies this time! I had assumed my painting would be in amongst a crowd of them, like they had last year, but this time it’s just my work, at the base of the inner stairs of level 1.

Attending the opening of the Artists of Mosman: 2088 exhibition on Friday, February 9th, 2018

Once again, the opening night was quite crowded, however it was nowhere near as hot as last time, and I was also able to hear most of the speeches, which were actually quite humorous. But in all honestly, the main source of my fun for the night came from dressing up! There aren’t many goth types in Mosman, so I stood out, sometimes receiving looks of surprise, and other times stares of disapproval. Dressing up around here is a fun social experiment, and I made the most of it!

If you’d like to check the exhibition out yourself, Artists of Mosman: 2088 is on display at Mosman Art Gallery from 10 February – 4 March 2017.

And in case you missed it, you can see an overview of the rest of last year’s art in my previous blog post.

For everything else, you can keep up with my creativity across the internet at the links below. Until next time!

Links!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/destroyermariko

Just want to send a one-off tip? https://www.paypal.me/MarikoGray

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DestroyerMariko

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destroyermariko

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestroyerMariko

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DestroyerMariko

DeviantArt: http://destroyermariko.deviantart.com/

My bands:
Rainbow Death Ray on Bandcamp: https://rainbowdeathray.bandcamp.com/
Rainbow Death Ray’s website: http://www.rainbowdeathray.com/

Last year was a big one for me and art! My Master of Art degree started to pick up the pace, and I ended up making some fun stuff. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.

The Colours of Mount Fuji

This work came about through an exercise in exploring colour. Each season and time of day matches up with a temperature and style of palette. You can read more about it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/colours-of-mount-12462757

It has now been framed!

“Animal Affinity”

This series of A1 prints was the result of a semester of experiments in line and mark, exploring ways in which I could expressively communicate my relationship with my dogs. Originally, I had planned to use some kind of traditional medium, but I ended up working digitally after I realised that my main forms of self-expression are through writing and my voice. This lead to me composing my images using recordings of me speaking about my dogs, with the words placed inside the graphical waveforms and overlaid onto a digitally processed photograph. You can see more here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/animal-affinity-12718630

A Post-Apocalyptic Picnic

With North Korean tensions flaring up, I became very interested in our nuclear history as well as the potential ramifications of wars that could lead to human extinction. The artwork I created as a result looks at how nature would reclaim urban areas in our absence, as it has done in abandoned cities such as Pripyat, post-Chernobyl. For more detail and discussion, click here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/post-apocalyptic-13147391

Microplastics

Another issue that I became curious about last year was the environmental impacts of microplastics. Many people are now aware of microbeads, which had become common in cleansers and cosmetics before being banned, but it also turns out that plastic in synthetic fabrics – microfibers – are a much bigger problem. To highlight this issue, and as part of an exercise in repetition, I created small sheep out of natural clay, covered in small, plastic Fimo beads instead of wool. Read more about it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/microplastics-14072023

Copper Jewellery for the Post-Apocalypse

This is easily my favourite work from last year. As you can see, the post-apocalyptic theme has been on my mind! But this time I took a fantastic course in jewellery, and was given the freedom to explore all the possibilities of copper, including various methods of colouring and texturing it. This set of jewellery is designed with utilitarian goals in mind, as a way to justify the existence of decorative items in a world of survival and scarce resources. The ocean plays a big part in my imagined future. You can read more here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/copper-jewellery-14370673

Mood Cards, 2/8/17 – 22/9/17 (Surface Exhibition)

©2017 Edmond Thommen, all rights reserved

I blogged about this last time, but didn’t really say much about my work! My Mood Cards project was a response to my depression and the day to day struggles with my fluctuating emotions. Every day for 52 days, I painted a randomly drawn card according to what I was feeling that day. One of the cool things about it is that it really helped me explore some more experimental and expressive styles of creativity. And at the end of it all, it was really cool to see it go up in an exhibition that we organised as a class! I’ve written a bit more here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/surface-15002508, but much more detail about this work is available to patrons who subscribe to my Patreon for $1/month. If you’re interested, I would really appreciate it if you signed up, it helps so much to have you become more involved in my creative journeys! ^_^

Many thanks to Edmond Thommen for the pictures of my work at Surface Exhibition!

©2017 Edmond Thommen, all rights reserved

Noise Art Project 2017

Despite my hiatus from music, I also managed to create some sound-based art! The concept behind it was about breaking rules, from the sourcing of the sound, right through to playing it on four speakers instead of two (the video is a stereo approximation). You can read more about my thinking and process here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/noise-art-2017-15446541

Etching 2017

Another class I did last year was all about etching! It was an interesting experience working with everyone in the Cicada Press studios. We did two projects, “Alter Ego” and “An Australian Bestiary”. The animal I chose for that last one was the drop bear! Heehee. You can see more of our work and a bit about the process here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/etching-2017-15492590

My First Oil Painting

I actually started this one before I began my masters, after my uncle gave me his old oil painting supplies. However, once I started studying, I had to take a break (and oil takes so long to dry anyway) and didn’t come back to it until last year. It was a challenge, but I’m actually pretty happy with how it came out! Just wish I had a proper studio space for it, oil is a bit impractical for my current situation. Check out my process here, including my initial mistakes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/15940999

Relic of a Toxic Future

This was another jewellery project, again thinking about a post-apocalyptic world, but this time it ties in with an upcoming music project that I’ve been working on. You can read more about the purpose and the symbolism here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/relic-of-toxic-16632068

Wearable Art

Wearable art made from acrylic-painted balsa wood, plastic tubing, zip ties, ribbons, fimo, metal jewellery bits, beads, wool, thread, chess pieces, foam, copper wire, plastimake and guitar strings, attached to a barrette-style hairclip. いいね？ #hairstyle #goth #alternative #red #black #blackandred #art #wearableart #fascinator #samurai #kabuto #髪型 #ゴス #ゴシック #赤 #黒 #赤と黒 #fimo #chess #hairclip #ribbons #cybergoth #rockstar #DIY #destroyermariko

A post shared by Mariko Gray (@destroyermariko) on Mar 12, 2017 at 5:05am PDT

This was my first time making wearable art! It was a good bit of fun. Not particularly practical, but I love it anyway and it photographed well. I’ve been putting a lot of artsy images on Instagram lately, both of creepy work I’ve done and of my gothic outfits. If you’d like to see more, check it all out and follow me here: https://www.instagram.com/destroyermariko/

Broken Innocence (Performance Art) 2017

You’ll notice a lot of broken/repaired toys on my Instagram account. They eventually formed the basis of my performance art piece last year. It was pretty nerve wracking, I’m used to music performance, not art performance, but it meant a lot to me. If you’ve signed up to support me on Patreon, you can see more about the performance here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/15538432

That’s all for now!

There were some other works I did last year, so I may post them up at some stage, but for now I hope you’ve enjoyed an overview of all my work so far! Tonight I’ll also be heading back to Mosman Art Gallery, where another one of my artworks has made it into the Artists of Mosman exhibition! I’ll be sure to show you that artwork soon as well (it’s also from last year). Sorry about the length of this blog btw, I’ll try to be better about posting more often this year! In the meantime, you can keep up with all my creativity across the internet at the links below. See you next time!

Links!

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/destroyermariko

Just want to send a one-off tip? https://www.paypal.me/MarikoGray

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DestroyerMariko

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destroyermariko

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestroyerMariko

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DestroyerMariko

DeviantArt: http://destroyermariko.deviantart.com/

My bands:
Rainbow Death Ray on Bandcamp: https://rainbowdeathray.bandcamp.com/
Rainbow Death Ray’s website: http://www.rainbowdeathray.com/

Gosh, it’s been a busy year! I’ve neglected my website blog, but I’m hoping to get some more time for it soon. In the meantime, I have another exhibition I’m in!

Surface is an exhibition showcasing the varied works of final year Masters students from UNSW Art & Design. It runs from October 26 – November 6 at Gaffa Gallery in Sydney CBD.

Opening Night: 6pm – 8pm Thursday October 26, 2017

Gallery Hours
Mon-Fri: 10am – 6pm
Sat: 11am – 5pm
Sun, holidays: closed

Gaffa is located at 281 Clarence St in Sydney, right near Town Hall.

If you want to keep up with what’s going on with the exhibition, there’s a Facebook page as well as an event, and there’s also an Instagram.

My work for the exhibition uses playing cards as a canvas.

As for what else is going on right now, I’m nearly 3/4 through my Master of Art at UNSW! It’s been pretty hectic. I’ve been working in everything from painting to digital media, plant sculpture to jewellery, even a bit of noise art. When things calm down over the summer, I think I’ll start posting about some of the things I’ve been doing and update all the other areas of my website to show off my work.

In the meantime, I have actually been posting some things! Just not here. So if you’d like to see some of it now, here are my best links:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/destroyermariko
If you go to the “posts” tab and then pick the “public” tag, you’ll be able to see some of my recent projects! Or, if you’d like to support me for US$1/month or more, you’ll get access to all the extra goodies too! That includes behind the scenes things and work in progress, and is also just a really great help and encouragement to me to keep doing what I do. Either way though, I appreciate your ongoing interest in my art, and I will be making more public posts as I complete new works, so stay tuned!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destroyermariko/
I started off mainly posting my zombie toys, which I creatively repair when my dogs tear them apart. But lately I’ve also started adding images of my art, both finished and in progress.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestroyerMariko/
Probably the easiest way to get in touch with me, since I live there. It’s a bit quiet, partly because I don’t agree with how Facebook handles page post visibility, but I do post updates now and then, and see your comments faster than on any other platform since I basically live on Facebook these days.

As for some other links, if you’re interested, I’m on a few more platforms…

DeviantArt: http://destroyermariko.deviantart.com/
Mostly old works, need to update this as well!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DestroyerMariko
I recently started vlogging again, mostly about my life and my thoughts.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DestroyerMariko
Occasional political comments or articles about mental health usually.

Well, that’s it for today! I’m very nervous, but also keen for the Surface Exhibition, it’s in just under two weeks, oh my gosh! Lots of work to do! But I’ll try not to be a stranger anymore ^_^ not long to go til I have free time again!