Empty Space
W. Li on Apr 28th 2010
My roommate NM moved out this morning. I’m taking his room, which is 30 ft^2 larger than my current one.
I looked at the empty room with nothing inside, but a large bay window, framing the view of a playground w/ palm trees and top of the Bay Bridge in a distance. It gave me a refreshing breezy feeling. CN and I repainted the room with four different colors, because I don’t want to be “color-ist” in a way that discriminates towards colors. Lemon, pumpkin, bright pink, and purple! They don’t quite work in harmony. I had to unlearn everything I learned about color theory in arch school to make such bald decision. Yet the eccentric color combination reminded me of a child’s painting, without wanting to have mastery of technical knowledge.
A child pours out, onto the canvas, very precious things, her innocence and zeal. I really admire a child’s relation to his/her artwork is so pure and joyful. They are not referencing themselves to pop/high art, or other cultural precedents, which often turn people into self-critics and take them away from truly experiencing art making itself…
I want to draw like a kid again, with pure joy! Tonight, while painting my room, such a simple act, I found that feeling! It was like finding the hidden treasure I hid when I was a little girl that I forgot about.
Empty space, sometimes, is a great thing. It invites one’s imagination of what it can be instead of what it was. A place to meditate. A room of my own.
The rain is so beautiful tonight.
Filed in Thoughts