Kyle Anstess

Art 3A- Section 1

Professor Chirapravati
December 16, 2015
EC-Works by Brenda Louie
On September 17th, I went to the gallery to observe the paintings by Brenda Louie, with a
private tour lead by Brenda herself. When she discussed her work, she also talked about her
personal life experiences and story appeared and impacted her pieces. From what I saw and she
pointed out, she included a lot of Chinese calligraphy in her art, such as the social piece Mapping
of Memory Series- Foot Journey Series I and Sky Garden Series VIII. In her discussion, she
pointed out how she started out in rural Southern China, then went to Hong Kong, and eventually
made her way over to the states to pursue her college career. What was really interesting to me is
how she went from first pursuing and making a good living with a Bachelors in Economics to
going back to her true passion in art. Although, she had come, sought, and accomplished getting
her Bachelors in Economics liked her parents wished, and was well trained in Chinese
calligraphy and landscapes, she didnt receive full support to pursue her love of art (specifically
drawing and painting). However, she managed to put herself through college a second time.
When I first saw the gallery I was taken back by the sheer individual size of each, at least
four feet tall. The colors were also impactful and vibrant, especially the reds. Out of the eleven
artworks present, my favorite had to be the Sky Gardens Series VIII piece that was 8 feet tall and
5.5 feet wide. The way she used the oil paint to create contrasting organic and geometric shapes
that still worked well together was highly impactful. Even more impactful and intriguing to me
was the fact was she had someone come in and write in Chinese calligraphy on the piece when
she was done. While opening up her own piece to be written on was somewhat vulnerable itself
for an artist, it seemed even more vulnerable to me that this person wrote specifically about a
loved one who had passed. Another characteristic about this piece I enjoyed was the abstract
sense of a garden, not a specific or detail of a garden.
For those who havent seen these pieces, it is a must and eye opening experience to the
other possibilities of art, such as abstract. As a whole, you can see more common characteristics
carried throughout the pieces such as spiral motifs that may resemble the cycle of life motif in
her Flowers from the Sky Series, as well as Rivers United. Another characteristic, also seen in
these pieces is the use of line, both hard, soft, and dotted. The lines also appear as both fast or
slow line, which adds to the depth and emotion of her dedication to her artworks. An interesting
point about one of the pieces, Mapping of Memory, while line plays a big part in the foreground,
middle ground, and background, theres a play on numbers with mixed media. This play with
numbers may be a reflection of her past in economics. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience
and her work had a profound effect on how I observe future and present works, both my own and
others.