erik cheung's Uploads

Done on 24 in x 48 in gallery wrapped canvas! Wanna hear me explain? Watch 'The Canvas' entries on www.patreon.com/erikcheung

Except for the addition of the three hands, the preliminary scribble lines were not altered at all. These nine figures were found, slowly, not rendered It was a page of what seems senseless, crazy lines, Subconscious in the working? Yes, that's the story behind my art.

What a mess! I am never good at flower arrangement!

Things just happen? Or is there a hidden subconscious initiative that I have to finish one for my cellist friend ....a year previous to meeting her again at the art walk? Has this ever happen to any artist here?

This turned out to be a finished painting. It started with a full canvas of doodle lines (check my patreon log if you are interested in the raw file) This was executed just this March. Still, no lines were altered except the face area. Impossible you say?

Some works were born to be prodigious. Once the preliminary lines were laid within the first minute, the quality of the shapes, the diagonal composition and the weight were balanced out. With the black mass as the hood, a face, hidden underneath, is unveiled. With the addition of the black fingers and the white hand, the full figure surfaced naturally. The black fingers are the minimal suggestions to add character. The title `Remorse’ came about because of the bowed head and the pose. utube clip: https://youtu.be/mb48rCx-lYI

Always that game of catching and evading. I added hands on this one to hint the figures.

The only line added consciously is the hand. It leads the eye to the eye and thereby showing the viewers that it is in fact a figure. The shape on the right feels kind of right to be there, it really does not matter what it is. Compositional-wise , it works.

This is an earlier doodle style I did 3 years ago. Just thought of putting up something different for a change. This is big for a doodle though, 18" x 24".

The idea is to show a figure crossing over two ` scripts’ with a bilingual suggestion. By standing in between worlds, we see opposing viewpoints. Many artists have incorporated typography as symbols in their paintings since the 60s, but no one has attempted to approach lines in this `written’ manner. How different it is are the two writing styles of the East and the West; one with angular lines while the other in a smooth flow! This work juxtaposes the symbolism of cultures – script. At the same time, it questions the need to grasp the full meaning of the script to appreciate the aesthetic flow of calligraphic lines.

The black shadow as negative space is being embraced. The red profile in front seems to have a part in the relationship.

These figures found must cast some meanings from my subconscious. They simply came and as a whole composition! I uploaded a full description on youtube giving them individual names, mostly ghostly. This piece contains a spooky atmosphere stronger than the others and remains one of my favorites, probably because better works come effortless.

A very simple one that gives a 'chime' sound! You hear anything?

It is one continuous line. The name of a historic figure. I started to name my doodle with names at one point.

Since the dawn of l’automatisme, the floating shapes of Miro and Klee were praised as musical suggestions. Unlike the Masters, my groundwork of flowing lines speaks melody and rhythm from a musical score perspective. The flow of lines ties the art elements into a composition. It also reflects a concept from Chinese paintings, which says, ` as a line moves into the invisible, the idea continues.’

Another transitional one from 2017 in the size of 18" x 24". Looking back, this work starts showing me some glimpses. Abstracts do have an impersonal quality to it. Since it is not grounded with our everyday familiar objects or people, not knowing the visual language would be hard to understand the merits. I guess that is why I fell back to semi figurative.

This picture, among my many others, was created by following the doodle lines made in a minute. The figure and composition was FOUND from the loops in between... without alterations. https://youtu.be/xOa42BwxOx4

What is it otherwise?

From gibberish to treasure. Spontaneity is all over!

The form of Martial Arts introduced by Bruce Lee embraces `being formless’ as a central idea. Sharing this belief, my works do not start with an intention of what to make, but rather the process is to follow-through to what the works wish to become. In Jeet Kun To, the practice is to `be water’, to react and to blend. Instead of following the artist’s desire to direct the brush, I enhance, without an intention to change or render. The composition dropped from elsewhere as a message and is polished to shine.

Mr. Death and his shackle.