KIM-LEE KHO
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Life in a Pandemic: Anxious Times

3/26/2020

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Picture
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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Whether Art or Ornament, the Universal Fascination of Miniatures

8/20/2017

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Whether you have a long-dormant love of model railroads or can't resist dollhouses and their tiny furnishings, you're far from alone in loving miniatures. I grew up with my own dollhouse made of printed steel, but rather jealous of my cousin who had a big table in his basement devoted to his model railroad, set in a landscape he'd made and populated by exquisitely detailed buildings and street scenes.

A couple of years ago in pursuit of materials for some miniature projects (still on the drawing board) I visited, on my friend Fred's recommendation, The Credit Valley Railway Company, a truly amazing place with aisle upon aisle of trains, other vehicles, and buildings of different eras, human figures, street furniture, vegetation – even different kinds of grasses! Investigating those aisles was such an engrossing way to spend a couple of afternoons.

Plenty of artists love miniatures, miniature painting is quite a tradition, particularly in south Asia and Iran to my knowledge, but some artists either create dimensional miniatures or use the kind I drooled over at the store as their raw material.

Sculptor Kim Adams, 2014 winner of a Governor General's Award in Visual Art (click to view his award page), is one such artist whose work I particularly admire. His elaborate installations a few years ago at the Art Gallery of Ontario (click to view a slideshow from that work) were fascinating.
What got me thinking about this topic recently was an article in The Guardian about sculptor/miniature artist Randy Hage who has done a whole series in which he has re-created old New York City storefronts with amazing detail, right down to the litter, the papered-over windows and the inevitable graffiti.

​On his site (click to link to it) you can see side-by-side comparison photos of the shot he took of the actual storefront and his 1/12 scale miniature. Beautiful work! Below is a time-lapse as he makes one storefront “Ideal Hosiery”.
Finally there's an epic miniature museum project in Mississauga/Oakville called Our Home & Miniature Land where they are painstakingly re-creating Canada in miniature, starting with Toronto and Hamilton. Click here or on their name to check out their site. The project is not complete yet, though they have had a public open house, but the videos of their progress are amazing! Below are a couple of samples to whet your appetite. I can't wait to see it all in person!
How about you? Are you a miniatures geek whether secretly or proudly? Did you have a dollhouse or model railroad when you were growing up, or make other kinds of models?

​If so, please tell me about them in the comments below!
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The Magic of Watching a Master Craftsperson

7/24/2016

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It's a magical thing to watch a highly skilled or master craftsperson do their thing.

There is also something inherently magical about any of the spinning crafts, such as a potter's wheel or as in this case a wood lathe.

I came across this video and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd share it with you.

The craftsman is making traditional Japanese Kokeshi dolls, both fashioning the wood (I love how he connects the head to the body!) and painting the dolls with clean, deft strokes.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 
​

If you're wondering why I have fallen behind in my usually weekly blog posts, I have been away, both teaching and learning.

​I'm hard at work on some new blog posts, including a series about stepping outside of your comfort zone, which I hope you will enjoy – please re-visit my blog later this week and check them out!
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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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  • Home
  • Gallery
    • Burnt Offerings (2022) >
      • Sponsors: Thank you
    • My Father's Things (series)
    • Heartspace
    • A Full Heart
    • Subject to Limitation >
      • Boxed In
      • Expanding Media
      • Fences as Barriers
      • Containment
    • Skin
    • Face[t]s
    • [Un]Settled
    • Digital / Photo / Mixed
    • Painting
    • To See More
  • Shop
    • Interior Life series
    • Trees + Hidden Complexity
    • A Full Heart series
  • Courses & Events
    • Current + Upcoming
    • Virtual Studio Parties
    • Gallery Walk & Talks
    • Testimonials
  • Blog
    • News Archive
  • ABOUT
    • Biography
    • Statement
    • CV
    • Publications/Media
  • Contact