Attack of the Killamari

Work In Progress

2009-10-12T00:22:00.000-07:00

So here is a work in progress. I've begun creating the line work for this piece. The line work is being made with Adobe Flash, because I plan on animating it; and each element in the drawing was drawn as a separate piece so that it can move, and so that it can be printed as individual parts. Once all the parts are printed and cut out, I will use foam core to raise and layer the different pieces, creating almost a 'relief', but out of paper.

Note

2009-10-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Just a note, this series will not consist of ONLY depressing imagery, so cheer up! I just want to bring to attention the seriousness of what occurred, because it is such an overlooked or forgotten era. Once I am able to bring awareness to those around me, I will then also express the greatness and strength of the Khmer people, how they survived, how they've progressed, and they're journey to rising to the top once again.

2009-10-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

I picked up this birdcage the other day while browsing an antique shop. It's definitely got an Asian feel to it, and I thought I could use it for one of my thesis pieces. I am going to use it as a representation of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Camodia; formerly a high school and used as the S-21 Prison(Security Prison 21) during the Khmer Rouge Era.

Here is an initial sketch of what I might put into this piece. There are a lot of repetitive elements and depiction of death because that is what S-21 Prison was. It was nothing but procedural death everyday, one by one executions of the remaining great minds of Cambodia. Again this is just an initial sketch and will be thought out further.

I will be illustrating multiple elements that will be cut out, and probably extend from the birdcade on wires, and also some elemetns such as "prisoners" will be placed inside. Rising above the cage will be Comrade Duch, the head of, or asshole, pardon my french, of the S-21 prison. He had final say on who was taken into S-21, how they were to be tortured, question, and then executed. I will be representing him with multiple arms and multiple heads, a common Hindu depiction of deities and demons. Being that Cambodia's belief systems are heavily infuenced in Hindu mythology, I will be using such imagery to assist in the metaphors I illustrate. So here Comrade Duch will be represented as a demon in a familiar depiction of a demon or god in Khmer culture.

The Flute Player

2009-10-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

When Pol Pot was in control of Cambodia, his Khmer Rouge regime was sent out to systematically seek, hunt down, and kill any and everyone who opposed his way of "new life". This meant first and foremost, anyone who expressed themselves freely. Educators, professors, writers, musicians, dancers, and artists, were all hunted down and killed, because they had their OWN voice, and not Pol Pot's. Here is another documentary I came across that discusses this topic. Some of these creatives are still scared to come out from hiding and rekindle their love for the arts. Hopefully now is a time in which they can stop being scared, and bring their voices and stories back to the world.

Please Watch:

Thoughts

2009-09-27T23:06:00.001-07:00

Here is a piece I did back in July for the thesis. I printed on a skateboard for a show I was in - in Richmond, VA. This was before I had the idea for what I want to do now with my visual portion of the thesis. I will be redrawing this image so that each element can printed separately then pieced back together, but layered and raised in certain areas. The best way to describe it is dimensional graffiti, and the inspiration came from old chinese layered wood cuts.
Here are a couple bad photos I took of one I picked up for the apartment; but you get the idea.

Although my pieces will feel less environmental/diorama like, but more graphic and design savvy to continue with the aesthetic of my style.

Killamari - out.

It Started in 1975 : Works #1

2009-09-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

This piece expresses the tragedy of active land mines that ravaged the people of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge Regime, and the necessity of solving this issue today, as there are still millions of land mines littering the Cambodian Countryside.

Cambodia Documentary: Whisper Productions

2009-09-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here is a video I came across while doing my research. It's about fifteen mintues long, and is just very powerful. It only makes my drive to help the Cambodian people that much more like a fire inside. I am very passionate about this and I hope that through projects like this documentary, the art I show the world, and a few other collectives like Korean medical teams treating the poor for free, that we can make a difference.

Please watch:

Cambodia Documentary Rough Draft from Whisper Productions on Vimeo.

It Started in 1975

2009-09-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I'm going to try my best to actually update this thing. I've been a mad busy man.

So...Killamari is beginning the visual process of the "It Started In 1975". I'm working on a thesis that tells the stories of the Cambodian people, and what they experienced in 1975 to 1979 during the Khmer Rouge Regime under Pol Pot's command. That, and also their stories since, up until now. As far as the research, this has been a topic of great and personal interest to me ever since my first visit to the Kingdom of Kampuchea (Cambodia) in the summer of 2004.

My Father is Cambodian, and he urged me to visit the motherland for many years, and finally, in 2004 I went. First thing you notice in a place like Cambodia; whoa!, I'm an asshole. I immediately felt guilty about how well I had it back here in the states and all the things I took for granted on a daily basis. I like to think I keep it real, but these people are REAL, and they have no choice but to be that way.

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful country, but ain't your typical touristy spot; not unless you consider being in the country with the most amputees and handicapped in the world, or watching your step when you take a piss in the woods, or you'll BLOW UP cause there's landminds everywhere then yeah, it's a blast.

BUT, when you look around, everyone still SMILES! How? Well once you actually meet the people, and coverse with them, these are some of the sweetest, and most genuine people I've ever met.

My works will be illustrations based off memoirs and interviews of people who were both directly and indirectly affected by the Killing Fields, through research, and actual "interviews' or conversations I've had with the people during my several visits to Cambodia.

Robot Art!

2009-04-13T19:05:00.001-07:00

Check out this awesome robot interacting with people as art. Amazing, period, the end, awesome.
"Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.
". - Kacie Kinzer

What to buy, what to buy?

2009-04-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

So I have the itch to acquire some new electronic geek toys. I can't decide what I want to get first though. Right now I've been eyeballing the Wacom Intuos4 graphics tablet, and also the Sigma dp2, mini SLR camera...AND maybe a mac mini lol. Just check these things out!!

http://intuos.wacom.com/index.html

http://sigma-dp.com/DP2/index.html

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

...What to buy, what to buy? I know the best answer is to get all three, but yeah, I can't swing that right now. I already have a tablet, but the intuos4 just looks fun. My buddy has a mac mini, and it's just an awesome media center. The Sigma dp2, I'm a photographer, and I know the specs aren't top notch compared to full scale digital SLR's, but it's not supposed to. It's got awesome specs, with full sized SLR image sensor, and fits into a small shell; it just looks like something I have to have. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

Pie in the Sky

2009-03-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

As if you didn't notice, I love food. I like to eat good food and I like to cook good food, and I like to experience good, giant food, like this ridiculously hugemongous pizza.

Vietmanese food!

2009-03-19T22:47:00.000-07:00

All i've been doing is eating eating eating my ass off, and trying out new recipes. I'm pretty sure I was a chef in a previous life, or like now, I WISH I was a chef. Just got a new deep fryer, some new spices, and a huge outdoor gas stove for some low country. I was in Savannah for the past few days hanging with the fam, Momz and Aunt Bac Kim, cooked up some crucial vietnamese food!

Got some noodles, and some thinly sliced beef, green onions, meatballs, pot of soup going, etc...mmmm mmmm PHO!

oh yeah, some tripe.

Throw it all in a bowl, let the thin beef cook in the hot soup, with some hoison sauce and some chili paste, and go to town on this bad boy.

Killamari cooks!

2009-03-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

first get some:

I marinated mine overnight in fish sauce and chili paste. Prep them if not already. Cut the tentacles from the head, reach inside head an remove quill, (it actually looks like a quill). Next find the thin/long ink sac in the head and carefully cut out. Squeeze the head right between the eyes to get any excess ink out. Pull beak out from beneath the tentacles.
then chop them up!

Make the breading:
I used one parts flour, and one parts rice flour.
Bread crumbs, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper.
Dip the squid parts in egg yolk, and then into the spiced breading, and then into oil.

I kept some of the squid to fry up with some rice.
then eat!
and then make this:

and eat that!

ps...it's Mango/passion fruit, peach sorbe; slightly melted and then scooping into 3" mini pie crusts, mixed with granola, topped with mananas, and then more granola, then frozen. Put chocolate on top if you like. Get a beer, and then you're good!

2009-03-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

JR art from Kenya to Cambodia.

Killamari is back up!

2009-03-05T22:27:00.001-08:00

www.killamari.com

Killamari, new website/portfolio up.

dot dot dot blogging.

2009-03-05T21:50:00.000-08:00

Been a while since i've blogged. I do keep up with numerous journals, and often share my thoughts with those around me, but it's been a while since i've blogged. Well, here's 'Gnarly Rad Cool', I will definitely be keeping up with this and updating frequently. Due to work and school, I am on the computer ALL the time now.

Currently:

I am looking for studio space in Atlanta, and hoping to share with 3 fellow artists.
www.goniart.com
www.kcillustration.com
www.hurry up and make a new website 3rd fellow artist.com

Question at hand:

Shepard Fairey...what do you think?

Me? I'm a big fan. I know there's a lot of love and a lot of hate towards this dude, and I see valid arguements on both sides. Either way, this guy is a fuckin badass and you can't deny it. He aims to trigger a reaction, and that's what he gets. Positive or negative, he's got you thinking either way.

...

http://www.supertouchart.com/2009/02/02/editorial-the-medium-is-the-message-shepard-fairey-and-the-art-of-appropriation/