KIM-LEE KHO
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My Online Studio Visit with Arts Etobicoke in August

9/14/2020

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This summer Arts Etobicoke was kind enough to ask me to hold an online studio visit with them via Instagram Live.

After months of lockdown it felt like another way to connect up with people and community online, much like my Virtual Studio Parties, and Kal Honey's Virtual Collage Jams (which I co-host).

Studio visits are fun, in fact I love seeing the insides of other artists' studios, what kind of space they have, how they work in them, how they organize them and so on. Not to mention what they are working on in there!

So you'll get to see some of all of those things in my video, which is on Arts Etobicoke's Instagram account.

​Here is a direct link: www.instagram.com/p/CDeniKDpkrE/

It's almost exactly an hour long. In it you'll get a peek at some experiments, a longtime hobby of mine, the view out my windows, what my painting table looks like and plenty more. Plus I answer some questions from attendees.

While not yet up on their website or YouTube channel, I'm sure it will be sometime this fall, and I will update the link in this post once that happens.

​I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know in the comments if you would like to see more.

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Virtual Studio Parties, Fall Term & the Coming Weeks

8/11/2020

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DATE CHANGE:
Virtual Studio Party will return two weeks later,
on Saturday, October 3 at 2pm.

My co-host Kal Honey and I are taking a break from some of our work responsibilities for several weeks, including the Virtual Studio Parties, free weekly creative events on my YouTube channel, that have seen us through the first few months of the pandemic.

It has become something that we, and numerous regular attendees, have come to treasure, for the creative time, the conversation, and for the community experience.

While we are on hiatus, there is a YouTube playlist of 24 videos available on my channel from past parties. They are there for you to enjoy whenever you feel the need for some creative time with friendly company, in the comfort of your home (or at this time of year, possibly your cottage).

Here is the link: https://bit.ly/31HtbOm

Meanwhile, in the coming weeks, you can expect more posts here in the blog, and updates in the Teaching+ menu above, in my Online Offerings.

I've got my Fall term planned out so I'm busy writing and making web pages for each of the courses I will be offering. Some of them are up already with everything but the materials lists, which I'll post in late August.

UPDATE: All of my Fall courses are up on the website now!
Click here to see what's available.

Finally, if you haven't made it to one of our Virtual Studio Parties yet, I hope you can make some space in your week to attend one live on a Saturday afternoon this Fall, or else by watching or listening to a replay. And if you know anyone else who might enjoy it, please share the link with them.

Creative time, creative community, a friendly artist making things – and it's free! What's not to love? I hope you'll join us!


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Life in a Pandemic: Anxious Times

3/26/2020

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This is a time for hearts,
for big hearts, growing hearts,
open hearts.

Hearts too big to fit into this picture.


​Let’s take good care of everyone,
​including ourselves.
Life during a pandemic, even in countries like Canada which is still in the early stages, is full of anxiety. We're thrown off balance so we have trouble finding our footing. It's like the ground keeps moving.

It's not just that we are having to learn new practices to stay healthy, it's also the fact that the situation is constantly changing, close at hand, and around the world.


Some people have reached out to me, each experiencing some degree of distress. Some are experiencing a lot of fear – of the virus, for the future – and the 24/7 news cycle has become a vortex that infects us with fear.

There are others for whom the loss of normalcy, the rhythms and routines of their ordinary life, is the biggest issue. Losing so much so suddenly, they find themselves wading through grief for their life pre-pandemic. The suddenness can hit us hard.

I have been fortunate in finding meaning and purpose in the new things I have taken on, directly in response to the crisis, to help people get through the isolation and disquiet, and doing that has given me a little comfort. 
Before I tell you about that though, I want to share with you some thoughts I wrote to someone who needed help and emotional support through her distress at feeling unable to focus, unable to work, unable to settle. I feel it too. So many of us do, even if not all the time. So here is what I would like to say to you:

Nothing is normal right now. Nothing. So be gentle on yourself for not being able to work, and for feeling scattered. That is a natural response to feeling the anxiety of our crisis situation and even trauma and grief at the loss of normality.

We humans adapt to amazing things but to stay healthy in the full sense it is important to do gentle things that nourish, calm and ground you. That will ease the transition to the new normal, and you will feel better for it. 

Activities that get you focused on your body are especially beneficial: movement of any kind and focusing on your senses instead of your thoughts whenever you can, or for part of each day.

Do something with your hands, go outside for a walk if you are healthy (and keep your distance from others). Above all, have patience with yourself and those around you... even for the times that you – or they – lose patience :-)

.  .  .  .  .

On March 20, I started holding Virtual Studio Parties online, via YouTube livestream so that anyone with high-speed internet, no matter how unconfident with their computer, could take part.

It’s a no-cost creative gathering for anyone who’s missing the experience of community, is feeling isolated or anxious, or wants to have some gentle fun in the real-time, virtual, company of others.

People have said it's really helped them and it's something they look forward to now.

If this sounds like it might help you, or just be fun, visit my Virtual Studio Parties page.

​Do you have a suggestion for self-care during stressful times? Please share in the comments.
​
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A Packed House for My Heartspace Artist Talk & Opening Reception

11/3/2019

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Kim-Lee Kho giving her 'Heartspace' artist talk to a packed house at The Red Head Gallery in Toronto. All photos by Kal Honey, © Kim-Lee Kho
What a day! I'm feeling so full of gratitude for the many people who came out for the artist talk and opening reception for my 'Heartspace' solo exhibition at The Red Head Gallery in Toronto.

It was so packed that on more than one occasion I had to act like a bus driver and urge everyone to move further inside to make room for the new arrivals!

Wonderful to connect and re-connect with many familiar faces, colleagues, friends, students, sponsors, and even family!

I gave the group a guided tour through the artworks – so many of which merit a little background or additional explanation to enrich the experience rather than replace the personal encounter – covering conceptual, material and 
technical aspects as well as recounting an occasional anecdote. There were also some excellent questions from visitors rounding out the experience.

While I rest and recover I will leave you with some photographs from the afternoon, and later on I will post photos of the installation without the crowds.


If you were unable to attend the opening reception, I will be back at the gallery on Saturday, November 9, from noon to 5pm. I'd love to share the show with you then, but of course visit whenever you can! And please don't forget to sign the guest book :-)

​Heartspace runs through November 23, 2019.
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#dailyheroes: A Different Approach to Portraiture (and Social Media)

12/10/2015

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Have you ever commissioned a portrait? If not of yourself or a family member, then maybe of a pet or even your house?

Most people haven’t. And I’m not surprised. It’s not because they’re expensive, they can be, but so can entertainment systems that become obsolete while the portrait remains just as valuable, just as meaningful, as ever. They can also be very affordable, depending on the artist, and bearing in mind that each portrait is a bespoke (custom-made) item, usually hand-made and often with tremendous skill as well.

But seriously, most people have either never thought of commissioning a portrait or ruled it out for some reason.

Now imagine that I show up in your Facebook newsfeed or your Twitter feed, asking you to tell me the name of one of your hero(ine)s, so that I can draw them. When I’m done, I’ll share it on social media, tagging you in the post and asking you to share it with your online friends (naming me as the artist) along with a little explanation of why you chose that person as your hero.

Doesn’t that sound and feel a little different?
Fun even?


That in a nutshell is my #dailyheroes online portraiture project, a way for me to create something positive on social media without sharing videos of cats I don’t have :-) 

While the portraits are far from daily, (I find I need to do them in bursts), they have become a key part of what I bring to my online life, because of what others have brought to it. 

First of all, others bring me names, and when they do some of them share why they chose that hero(ine). It’s like being given a double gift: I get to know my friend or contact a little better and I also get to know figures (past and present) whom I may never have heard of before, or I will learn more about in my research.

Secondly, others have brought me their enthusiasm, both when bringing names and when “receiving” the drawing, and sharing them, whether they were the original commissioner or not.

I love the conversation that’s resulted, and the nascent sense of community building around it, at least for me.

So, when the producer of Night Time (a late night Rogers TV talk show) approached me about appearing in their current season, I knew which project I wanted to talk about! The segment originally aired on Friday, December 4, and will repeat. I will see if I can get a recording of it to share online.

Meanwhile, if you have a hero(ine) you’d like to share, please do so in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter (those words are live links).

I am posting the results in an album on Flickr as well.


PS: The name #dailyheroes is what's called a hashtag. For anyone unfamiliar with how those work, you can search for them in the search bar on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for example, (you must include the "#" which is the hashtag proper) and if anyone has used the term you enter (it has to be all one word), you will be able to see the posts where they used it.

A few examples (click on the image to see a larger version):
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Charles Darwin: the portrait that launched a project!
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Malala Yousafzai: youngest Nobel winner & social activist
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Pablo Picasso: I did a 2nd version of him, including animation!
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John Lennon.
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Amelia Earhart.
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Philip Guston on Making a Mark

10/26/2015

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Making marks in a painting or drawing sets up a dialogue between artist and artwork, one that is full of questions, challenges and responses.
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Sleeping by Philip Guston; 1977, Oil on canvas, 213.4 x 175.3 cm. Private collection © The Estate of Philip Guston
Philip Guston was a Montréal-born painter (1913) who became a major artist in the US.

I admire him for his honesty, making radical changes to his work over the years, going from skillfully figurative to purely non-objective (i.e. abstract) and then back to figuration; changes that had to be made in order to be true to the changes in himself as an artist.

The apparently crude approach he finally adopted (he said he wanted to paint like someone who could not paint) centred on a very personal vocabulary of recurring imagery and symbols.

​This quote from Guston shows his intimacy with and insight into the painting process.
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'Chains Unlinked' Installation, Part Four: Sculpture Goes Up

7/20/2015

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The final day of installation started with clean-up. Tarps came down, drapery went up, then we spent hours getting the unlinked chains up and their positioning and angles fine-tuned.

At day's end we were done; it only remained for the professional installers to light everything so you could see it properly. They did a great job! In fact the difference between how it looked when we left and after they lit it was an object lesson in the importance of properly lighting a show. I've been in shows where some of the work had half (if that) of the light it actually needed.

One major improvement that occurred with proper lighting was that the white layer of drawing on the drapery panels become visible where in low light only the black layer could be seen easily.

The Art Gallery of Mississauga's 'Walk the Talk' event is coming up and includes a tour of all three shows and informal talks from some of the artists, including me. 

I will talk about how I layered up a kind of evolution of meaning and experience while keeping things thematically tight yet physically airy in a small space. I may also talk about taking on projects that risk failure to stimulate my own growth and creativity. 

Bring your questions and observations and we'll have an interesting discussion about it.

Please join me:
Saturday, July 25, 2015 at 1pm
Art Gallery of Mississauga (click on name to go to their page)

P.S. The time-lapse below is a bit too fast. I'll try to improve it when I edit the whole installation process into a single video.

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Looking through the "un-links"; detail of installation view. Artwork pictured: "Chains Unlinked"; "Can't Get In / Can't Get Out 2" video; "Boxed In #21" temporary mural drawing; all by Kim Lee Kho. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid, 2015.

If you missed an earlier post about this installation, 
just click on one listed below:
'Chains Unlinked' Mural Part Three: It All Starts Coming Together!
'Chains Unlinked' Mural: New Face & Hand & Adding Darks
'Chains Unlinked' Mural: From Diagram to Drawing, Part One
'Chains Unlinked' Day 5: the Installation is Done!
'Chains Unlinked' Day 4: Drawing Complete, Installation Begins
Chains Unlinked' Day 3: Drawing Almost Done!
Day 2: Wall Drawing for 'Chains Unlinked' Exhibition (updated)
'Chains Unlinked' Installation Day One Complete!
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Collaboration Can Be Beautiful

12/11/2014

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Responsive Collaboration collage/mixed media by Kim Lee Kho and Kal Honey, 2014. 7
Responsive Collaboration collage/mixed media by Kim Lee Kho and Kal Honey, 2014. 7" x 5", acrylic, watercolour paper, collaged paper, masking tape, plastic netting. [click on the image for a larger view.]
Both my husband Kal Honey and I are artists and art instructors. In our previous careers we worked together as designers and art directors, including running our own little design studio for many years.

Our friendship began many years ago at a publishing company where we began to collaborate regularly on design (marketing and editorial) projects. It worked. Our differences made for interesting results. We discussed our way through points of disagreement. Project by project, the process became increasingly organic (including the inevitable bumps in the road!).

Since switching our focus from design to visual art, we have always consulted each other, discussed problems and ideas, physically assisted in each other's projects. What we had not done was actually collaborate. 

Until now.

We're part of a small group of artists that meets several times a year. Our group connected up with another group and decided to do a responsive collage exchange. What that meant was one person made a collage then mailed it to a 

member of the other group, who then made one to the same size that responded in some way to the first collage. That person in turn mailed theirs to a third person (in the first group) who responded to the second collage, and so on.

Working responsively like that is a great way to give yourself a starting point and maybe discover something fresh in your own work. Collaboration is another whole layer of challenge. I'm not positive, but I think we were the only participants who did collaborate.

Collaboration is good strong medicine for control freaks! Mutual respect is key, as is loosening your grip (from controlling the work and from your own ego). Treating each other and what the other person 
Working responsively is a great way to give yourself a starting point and maybe discover something fresh in your own work. Collaboration is another whole layer of challenge and is good, strong medicine for control freaks!
does with the proper respect can require more thought than usual before speaking, as well as longer and deeper consideration of the other person's work than you would need for something you had done yourself.

For this collage, Kal and I started by taking turns at individual layers. Then things got interesting. It became a series of discussions with each intervention; longer discussion over smaller aspects as we got closer to completion. 

The piece borrows a little positional/proportional structure from the original collage we responded to, as well as some colour and material reference, but in the end it totally surprised us, and that made us very happy.

Have you done collaborative work? Was it an enjoyable process with an interesting result or did the collaboration itself need more work? Please share your stories in the comments.
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A New Teaching Challenge

8/31/2014

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Studio practice is at the heart of what artists do (image)
This summer was the first year for a new program I helped to develop and teach: the Studio Process Advancement (SPA) graduate certificate at Haliburton School of the Arts, a 14-week intensive combination of academic content and studio work. 

We were lucky to have an amazing group of 12 committed, passionate and hard-working students for our first cohort. Along with the faculty team of Lisa Binnie (our coordinator), Elinor Whidden, Darlene Bolahood, Kal Honey, me and our fearless leader (and dean) Sandra Dupret, we had a number of visiting artists, a gallerist and a curator (I would thank them all by name, but I don't have them all at hand; a special thank you though to Andy Fabo) who made presentations, conducted hands-on demonstrations and consulted with students on an individual basis. Diversity of vantage points is hugely important in art, so these invited guests enriched the program tremendously by their contributions.

I found teaching for this a really interesting challenge. My favourite experience was having in-depth conversations one-on-one with the students, asking and answering questions, offering responses and suggestions, riffing on ideas. Those conversations are something you can really miss in a solitary studio practice, along with the support of a tight-knit group. Solitude is important for creativity, but so is connection, which makes all kinds of programs, classes, critique groups and so on, essential for most artists, at least on a periodic basis.

I'm very excited about the progress everyone made this summer and am so proud of them all!

The Haliburton Echo wrote an article about 'SPA' that you can check out here: 
http://www.newspapers-online.com/haliburton/?p=5541

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Art is a Conversation

8/17/2014

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PictureSelf-portrait © Kim Lee Kho 2007
Making art is engaging in a conversation; a conversation with the world around me, with myself, with other artists (past and present), and ultimately with viewers and collectors of the work.

Working in the studio is quite solitary unless you happen to be part of a collaborative partnership or team, so artists are often hungry for conversation: about art in general, about being an artist and of course about their own work. That hunger often motivates artists to attend open studio sessions, take workshops and form communities. It may even motivate them to start a blog!

Welcome to my new blog. I invite you to join me in this conversation whether you are an artist, student, work in the arts, or are just generally interested in things art-related. What would you like to talk about?

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    Kim-Lee Kho

    As a visual artist I like nothing more than getting up to my elbows in paint or little plastic toys, or wading in at the deep end in pursuit of an idea. When I am not teaching others in a similar vein, you can find me researching, writing and noodling around in my studio, seeing where my latest lines of inquiry lead me.

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