Why vintage frames?
Hi friends,
Today, I’d like to talk about the frames in INTEGRATION. It has to begin with my value. - SUSTAINABILITY
It takes lots of resources from earth to produce a new product.
Raw materials that we exploited from mother earth.
However, the resources are not unlimited.
We buy product for cheap and we throw them away easily because they are cheap.
What do we give back to earth? Trash in landfills in return.
IKEA Art Wall
We are trained to consume by the system.
Always New New New and More More More,
thinking the more the better and the newer the better.
That’s not what I believe.
I believe in sustainability and creativity.
Tricia Kuo Art Wall
Home is an extension of our personality and identity.
Peacock fern in glass ceiling light shade left by ex-tenant.
Mom’s orchid wall made of baby cradle parts.
Please excuse my sad looking plants on the left.
Some of them are hospital plants that I brought in for intensive care.
Treasure hunting process of second hand shopping
Creation process out of raw materials with only ideas
Supporting an artist through purchasing hand crafted things
If we can upcycle second hand goods or create by ourselves out of natural materials.
Why buy boring mass-produced new products that are made of mainly plastic nowadays?
Plus, things made with raw materials in the past are better quality and might last longer provided with enough care and love <3
Isn’t the whole process more interesting and meaningful than going to a big shopping mall to buy the same product that’s sold to many others?
Isn’t it more unique to have a hand made piece or a second hand piece that carries a lot of stories at home?
I’m a collector myself. I like to collect trash seen by others and make it valuable through my hands.
Not to mention a lot of natural treasure, such as wood, rocks, crystals and shells, most of our furniture in the house are second hand.
As you probably know already, my two biggest creative outlets are paintings and gardening this year.
My new addictions are collecting vintage frames.
Genuine vintage photo frames are often works of art themselves.
Larger frames especially can be real show-stoppers and depending on how rare the piece is, you might have a truly unique frame for your wall.
My process of this collection starts with collecting frames.
I don’t think only painting is my art. My gardening is my art. My restoration on frames is my art.
I don’t think the frame is supposed to stay quiet to avoid stealing the show from painting.
In fact, both painting and frame are real art.
My creation is a combination of two pieces of art with stories created by time.
Antique picture frames often come with a hefty price tag, even if they're not in mint condition.
Plus, sourcing quality vintage photo frames can be tricky. You might stumble on an antique photo frame in a vintage store or collectors market, but in general, high quality vintage photo frames can actually be quite hard to find.
Many antique picture frames will be worse for wear, requiring repair jobs or restoration services before they're ready for display.
In curating the work, I randomly sourced vintage frames which I restored to repair obvious blemishes but definitely not wanting them perfect.
Next, I mixed and matched these frames with my artworks to blend into the final images that express my journey. Each fit was a small destiny. A new version of beauty was created by mixing old and new.
This way, I can review all my past works with a different perspective.
During the process of this collection, I got to be a little restorer to repair obvious blemishes, but keeping their authentic vintage beauty.
Each second hand piece has many stories behind.
Combining my vision to create a new beauty brings me a great amount of joy.
Being able to share them with you is the best thing of it all.
Creating -> Destruction -> New Perspective -> Creating -> Final creation
If you have been following for a while, you would probably know my creative process heavily involves a lot of
cutting up old works to create new works.
Gold print leaves in black from 2018
New floral cutout from 2023
Fit nicely in the frame as it is
2018金色葉片拓印在黑紙上
2023全新的花卉剪紙
如同命中注定般地在老框裡找到歸宿
Crystal shells
Each coated in gold lines to be complete
I’m made of destroyed pieces of me from the past
水晶貝殼
每個都鍍上金線才完整
我是由過去被摧毀的我組成
Chaos 混沌
Swallowed by dark swirls
Kept the light in my heart
Everything falling apart to clear up space for long awaited blessings to enter
被黑色漩渦吞噬
在心中保持明燈
一切的分崩離析，都是為等待已久的祝福騰出空間
This collection represents the loving and accepting integration of past versions of me that I used to deny.
My process of making art has included transforming and even abandoning values that I long believed before I became an artist.
When the denial of my true self, and old beliefs made me confused and very unhappy, I found artistic expression as a path out of these depressions.
As with these pieces, the integration of our true identities includes growing a whole mind; learning to navigate feelings and making sense of thoughts, all the while dynamically re- framing our reality as we grow in relationship with ourselves and others.
I do not judge the past versions of me. They did not fail, they simply no longer expressed me. They are component parts of me from the past. Just as all the the nutrients in soil are dead things, so our past expressions now nurture growth today. The more diverse the dead things in soil, the better a plant can grow.
Our stories often need the right FRAME of mind to be viewed and understood.
Framed skillfully, we are all whole.
Till next time,