Back to biking!

yay! i rode my bike today and it made me so happy. but what is it about spring...as soon as someone shows a little bit of neckline, all the dirty old men are leering at you from their cars. gross. but despite the gross men, which exist everywhere, this is the toronto i like...sunny and (getting) warm.

i am busy packing away and learning that i can live in hiatus and not have a panic attack. if you took one look at my apartment right now, you'd understand. but, what am i crying about anyway? everyone goes through it. i've just been through it about 6 times in the last 6 years. but what better reward than to have dean screen his short film shortly after and then...dun da da dum...we are heading to sunny and oh so wonderfully warm CUBA a week later!!!!! YES!!!! this is the reward that i've been waiting for. i can't wait to put on a bikini (well....actually...squishy), lie on a beach, swim in the ocean, ride a bike up the hills and play with the iguanas. i've forgotten how healthy my skin can be because all this cold has surfaced all kinds of skin problems and dryness. just a little bit of sun and i will be nicely golden again. besides, dean and i need to give our selves a nice breather before resuming full swing to our responsibilities in toronto. you know what they say, work hard and PLAY HARD!!!

Congrats to the Sultry Sultan

Congrats to Samer Muscati...the love toy of the lovely Sandra Chu...for his cover photo of the monks playing soccer which will appear in an upcoming book. Just click on the above image to take a closer look. Proves when the dynamic duo is not out solving the world's human right's violations, they are up to some pretty cool and creative stuff. Oh and San, congrats on your publication!!!

xo

Tubig Screening May 4th @ Cinecyle!!!!

hello hello...

it's been a busy week of packing and balancing the excitement of moving to a new pad and the frustrations of living amidst boxes in the meantime. i can't wait to get out of here. our current landlord bites and we've resorted to calling her "ugly" everytime she's around. ugly on the inside but who really cares anyway...she's whack overall. anyway, much excitement to report...Dean's film TUBIG for a SMALL WORLD is screening along with 4 other short films on Thursday May 4th at Cinecyle (just behind the 401 Richmond building at 129 Spadina Ave, down the alley). Show kicks off at 8pm and the cost is $7 for non members. Please come out and support. I assure you that this single piece of work will catapult Dean to a whole new level of filmmaking and hopefully land him some yummy gigs here on in that allow him to flex his creative superpowers. I am so proud of him!!! Anyway, a bit about the film, it is a motion graphics adventure, following the parallel lives of two women (actually played by the same woman but i worked some makeup and wardrobe magic on her): one who lives in the busy metropolis of toronto and the other in rural philippines. The ironic relationship is highlighted by exploring the role of water and how it connects all of us, rich and poor. for those who aren't familiar with motion graphics, just think, all these scenes were filmed in front of a green screen (kinda to the effect of Sin City) and the environments were later created and composited to build a visual adventure. Don't get it? Well come on out and you will see. I have included some stills to give you a taste.

for more info about preproduction, see www.tubigforasmallworld.com

much love

Rest is underrated!

i have recently just come out of a whirlwind of work, projects coming out of my ears, wrapping up classes and other fun things. now just recovering and learning that rest can be oh so wonderful. easter was a weekend of complete gluttany. our friend gerald was in town from NYC and we were reunited with tdot/vancity transplant, josh. together with deans and i and josh's UK chef brotherman, we made a pretty mean eating machine. it was one hot eating spot to the next and 2 days of indian food (dunno 'bout you, but i needed a salad after that)! first, we hit Lahore Tikka, which i must say, is my FAVORITE indian restaurant in toronto. nothing like eating to crazy bhangara house music pounding in your ear. i just love the rawness of this place, like it transports you into southeast asia immediately when you walk in. and though it's a little ghetto with the styrofoam plates and all, the bbq and tikka masala are to die for. mmmmmm!!!! day 2, it's all about Ghandi's Roti on Queen W. oh my god, if you haven't discovered this place yet, you're missing out the some of the best indian food wrapped into super hugemungous naan rotis the size of your head (or at least my head). but, i must say, all that eating has been stretching my stomach out in really uncomfortable ways. i resorted to sit ups every day to plan for the much anticipated vacation i'm taking in may. oh ya baby!!!! back to easter weekend, i went home after ghandi's to sleep it off and got up to get ready for the next eating feast at a friend's party in the annex with a massive huge roast pig!!!! can't say that i really cared for the people there, met some cool filmmakers, writer and a hot photographer chick who has stuff showing for the contact photo fest. the rest were some lame ass people looking to overcompensate for something, but i ain't hating...just want to keep a distance and really appreciating the cool people that i do know. so, we traded spaces and hit josh's friend's party at Gem Diner. Super chilled cool crowd and cute little spot not too far from my place. i love that in toronto, you're just constantly discovering new and exciting places to hang out. birthday celebrant Diego and i picked each other's brains about important world issues like backpacking and riding our bikes to kensington market in the summer. awesome. but what's most awesome was moving from super high ego party to super chilled in one night. gerald and josh left the next day for NYC and i admit i was pretty sad. miss having guy friends who just kick it you know? since then, i've just been appreciating the quiet that i've been alien to for so long. class is done, all the projects are wrapped and even my taxes are complete. not bad. the only thing on my mind now is sleeping in as often as i can, moving and vacation...and of course supporting deans as he finishes his short film which screens at cinecycle on may 4th. make sure you come out and see this amazing piece of work. it will blow your pants off!

The Long or Short of it

so the age old debate continues...ha! leave the hair long or cut the hair short?!

guys: almost always say keep it long
girls: a toss up, but more generally open minded than guys

so, the thing is, what are the standards of beauty that we all fall prey to and how comfy am i falling into some kind of category? i wanna chop my hair off, but previous experiences remind me that the guck isn't worth it and being "stylish" girl while i'm jogging, taking out the trash in my robe or just plain feeling "unstylish" is a bit tired. sometimes i'm just plain lazy...nothing's easier than wash and go and long straight hair is really just that simple. but, how do we moderate these confusing impulses in life: quit my job or stay, safety or artist route, eat meat or not, consumerism or walk away, guys or girls, commitment or open relationship...and yes long hair or short hair!!! you get the idea right?

not only is this just frivolous fun, but really, hair can influence how you feel about the stage of life you're moving into and must reflect change. seeing that it's spring, we should all give in and get ourselves mohawk fades.

Live Art In Progress - Tracing Our History

so it begins...doors just opening now
check out this picture i'm tracing, isn't it haunting?



















dude, how come you're always so stylin?



















by tracing our subject, we trace the footsteps of the ancestors and our place in history

art as process...part way done and audience is heading in for the show

Tracing Our History

check the words close up...














"Tracing Our History" finito!

the artists

deans and leens

Killer Collabo

exhausted, excited and elated! i don't know any other way to describe how i'm feeling now...after an awesome evening being completely free with my art, alongside one of the artists i respect the most. i'm so pleased, i might just write all run-on sentences! anyway, my friend norman yeung and i did a performance visual art piece today at factory and it was soooo much fun. we started out with a projected image...tracing it...and kinda just playing, winging it as went along. what made it so awesome was creating art with someone i vibed so well with, who was so free and open to embracing the moment, flow and the energy of the place. the artwork progressed organically and in the end, we were both so happy with the result. many of the people at the show really were diggin' it as well, taking time to talk to us and share their impressions. it was nice and interactive that way. oh!!! such fun!!! the freedom i felt today really connected me to the reasons i love art in the first place. sometimes i think i put so much pressure on myself to do something "relevant" that it no longer has the spontaneity that art is all about. i feel like i've reconnected to that and i'm also really loving drawing and painting again. i guess as an artist, one will grow and change and continue to explore until the day they can no longer can move. what was so surprising was that, in our spontaneity, we created something much more raw and relevant than we originally imagined.

i am uploading some images soon...we started with a plain 3.5 x 5 ft. canvas, began tracing the outline of the subject, then continued with the shading and background. this all began just as the doors of the theatre opened to the audience so people were coming in and watching us as we worked. then, when the show began, we continued our work and allowed ourselves to be inspired by the words of the play. we wrote those words all over the canvas...and you will see, it looks maddening. the image itself is quite haunting. it is an archival image of an immigrant chinese man wearing a western hat. he was one of the first canadian immigrants that broke their backs for people like norman and i to follow. we chose this image because his expression was so full of pride and sentimentality and if you look, i'm sure you will agree that it is amazing. now, the piece is drying in my house and i can't wait to put it up in my new apartment, come may. some people were asking if they could buy it, but i think that this piece is one for my private collection.

oh, and thanks so much to dean for always being there to support and for buying me an eggplant burrito. he is the bestest a girl can ask for.

ahhh...sweet dreams...

i miss my mom's cooking back in vancity

bhangara bash

last night i broke out of my winter cocoon and hung out with a bunch of really amazing women...partying it up in the village. nice...except the guys at the 2nd club were all about pressing up to you and being super harsh aggressive. it was quite funny considering many of the women weren't into the men! but i guess that's what bhangara fever does to you. danced with one dude with long dreds (to his credit, he wasn't one of those leeches mentioned above) that said i had a vancity freak-on. ha! anyway, i love south asian peeps and their appreciation of beats and dancing. what would this world be if we couldn't vent out energies by hittin' the dance floor?

lovely clothes in clement virgo's film

i must say, after indulging in a bit of retail therapy yesterday, i am a little preoccupied with spring fever and the change that's in the air. it seems like spring can't come soon enough. though i'm missing vancouver's lovely cherry blossoms this time of year...and my friends' chris and anja's wedding...i am looking forward to the amazing spring in toronto. it's so refreshing and beautiful with flowers blooming and puppies everywhere (are puppies born in the spring? it just seems like it) birds chirping...makes you forget that scaly winter skin lasted for 6 months!

a couple days ago i finally saw the film, "lie with me" by the husband and wife collaboration of Clement Virgo and Tamara Faith Berger. husband is the director, wifey is the writer. collabs like that interest me...takes the term partner or dynamic duo to another level. maybe one day i will write an tantalizing screenplay and dean will film it. it's a dream now, but dreams are the fuel of the imagination. aside from the film's amazing artistic shots and cinematography, the clothes on leila are so pretty! makes me dream of patios and sticky skin in toronto's hot summer. yes, it can get sexy here in canada. i can't wait to put on a summer dress! love the silk looking polka dot tank top, the dresses, the pink necktie tank...gotta give it to toronto for having hip style and amazing filmmakers! hurry up spring!!!

can someone free me from my winter blues?

me and my dad's old skool camera...i don't really know how to use it

live art at factory theatre

so live art is a bit of a spectacle for me, considering i'm still trying to manage being the introspective brooding artist type. but, i'm never one to turn down a challenge. this sunday, my friend norman and i are gonna team up to do a live art display at factory as part of the crosscurrents festival. our plan is to trace a projected image onto a large canvas and ummm...not sure what next, but we'll figure it out i suppose. just trying to have some fun and all. lately, i've been finding people a bit too serious around me. maybe i'm prone to seriousnes too. with spring in the air, i'm all ready to trade in my old dusty winter vibe for a fresh new breath of daffodils and tulips. i even jumped the gun today and bought a mini skirt and jelly shoes...reminds me of being 10 again.

for those who wanna check out the show, it's on sunday april 9, 7pm at the factory theatre on adelaide and bathurst.

video art obsession

i have only recently been introduced to the lovely world of video art and experimental film. my boyfriend (dean) is a filmmaker and post production specialist (such a nerd) and he wows me constantly with the creative possibilities. today i finished the final edits and effects on my 2nd experimental art video. the first was a bit of a cop-out being a ghetto asian horror shot in my apartment. but, there is something so gratifying about pulling out the shapeless white nightie and parasol and walking up the staircase like an apparition. everyone's got a horror flick waiting inside them. this current video is a reaction to the social status of chinese people in the tdot. it kinda is a bit of a confession as well, being as priviledged as i am to have the opportunity to pursue my dreams...how do we make sense of that shift compared to the older generations? how do we see them and make sense of who we are and our values? sorry to get so heavy existentialist on you, but this was just what came out. anyhow, the images were all shot in chinatown and edited with super high contrast so that the colours are all saturated and has a grainy film look. i think often that dean's nerdiness is rubbing off on me. i can't even watch commercials now without analyzing the details. nerd. aside from that, i'm just proud of myself for putting it all together on the shitty imovie program. i still have to put on my track, which will feature djembe beats alongside a poetic rumination i wrote and performed for Mayworks in 2004. i'll try to post it when it's completely done.

it's all about me

so, finally i have a blog where i can let out all my mindless ruminations about everything. when you're a writer, you need to write constantly...whether or not someone wants to listen. so those who can and want to share in my adventures can do so at their leisure...welcome to lena land!