THE TASTE OF MEMORY. 1 11/12/20
In this residency, The Taste of Memory, participants will learn sketching, shading and coloring. They will document their stories inspired by remembered dishes. At the end of the program each participant will have a portfolio of their artwork featuring their stories and memories about food.
We began as always with a warm up, which involved moving the fingers, hands, arms, nose and whole body in circles and ovals. Next Spica led a discussion about what everyone has been eating during the lockdowns and then restricted movements imposed as a means of slowing the spread of COVID-19 infections. Everyone has been cooking more at home. Lao Yu told us she has been eating more snacks, but they are healthy, consisting of peaches and apples! Beforehand Pun used to do the bulk of the cooking, but now as her husband is retired, he has been cooking. She likes this reversal. Ru Ping’s husband also cooks, and she says he is very good, and they enjoy fancy meals. So Sim’s daughter-in-law cooks for the family. Jing Wei commented that she and her husband share the cooking and cleaning duties. They modify the food supplied by the Center, adding their own personal touches.
Hui Fen, cradling her grandchild, told us her husband works as a chef, so she learns cooking tricks from him. Julisa cooks every night. Her grandchildren, with whom she lives, sometimes set the menu. Her granddaughter, in particular, “places the orders”, and just the other night she made tacos. She also makes Italian dishes, but mainly it’s the Chinese staple, rice. Sook Fong admitted she eats simply. Don Lee joined in our conversation and told us he paid his way through college by working in Chinese restaurants for 2 years in Chinatown. He surprised us all when he said the restaurant was the famous Hop Lee. His specialty is Cantonese cooking and he hoped he could cook for us all one day. We certainly look forward to that!!
Students learnt how to draw simple geometric shapes, cubes, cylinders and pyramids by first using their finger to draw a geometric shape they could easily see in their room. They closed one eye and used their finger to “trace” a flat rectangular object, such as a window or TV, then used the same method with a three-dimensional object. Through these activities they experientially learnt about perspective.
After preparing a piece of white paper by folding it 4 times to create 16 grids, they were led through an exercise in drawing cubes from different perspectives. Holding a quarter, students observed how the visible planes changed as it was gradually turned and drew their findings. Modeling with a glue stick, Spica demonstrated how to draw a cylinder. The final exercise was drawing a pyramid from different perspectives and then how to transform a triangle into a cone.
During our stretching break we enjoyed listening to Andy Lau. After that students were ready to learn about the different methods of shading. I demonstrated where the shadow fell on my face and we discussed how moving the light source affects this. Students practiced hatching, cross hatching, scribbling and stippling on the circles they had drawn. In the little time left they used these methods to shade the geometric shapes they had drawn. We encouraged them to practice all the techniques that were covered in class today, for homework.
Comments
Post a Comment