Madame Butterfly - Illustration series

         Based on Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, these illustrations capture a tragic love tale between a guileless Japanese young girl and an American sailor. Cio Cio San (pronounced closely as Butterfly in Japanese) is arranged to be married to a Naval officer, Pinkerton, who only marries her for convenience. Briefly after the wedding, Pinkerton ruthlessly leaves Japan, without reckoning Butterfly's sincere and unconditional love. Years pass as Butterfly still waits for him in hope and faithfulness, just to know Pinkerton has long forgotten her. After an unfortunate encounter with his new wife, Butterfly decides to take her own life. Pinkerton rushes in filled with regrets, but he is too late.

 

“Floating in the joyful breath of spring”

Acrylic and colour pencils, 12" x 12"

      This painting depicts the fifteen year old Cio Cio San, ecstatic for her arranged wedding with an American soldier. Butterfly, lights up the temple as she arrives with her alluring smile and an slender fragility. Her faithfulness to Pinkerton is also hinted in the Christian cross she is holding, an act of renouncing her ancestral Buddhist religion that symbolizes her unconditional love for Pinkerton.

“I cannot tell you whether it's love or fancy.

All that I know is,
she, with her innocent charm has entranc'd me.
Almost transparently fragile and slender,
Dainty in stature, quaint little figure,
Seems to have stepped down
straight from a screen.
But from her background of varnish and lacquer,
Suddenly light as a feather she flutters,
And like a butterfly, hovers and settles,
With so much charm, such seductive graces,
That to rush after her a wild wish seized me
Tho' in the quest her frail wings should be broken.”
 

“Lingering on this infatuated tenderness”

Acrylic and colour pencils, 12" x 12"

 

       On the wedding night, Butterfly guilelessly asked Pinkerton whether it's true that “If a butterfly is caught by a foreign man, he'll pierce its heart with a needle and then leave it to perish?” To her anguish, Pinkerton folds his arms around her, gently spoke: “May I tell you why? So that you may not escape. I have caught you. I hold you as you flutter...”  This illustrations henceforth captures the tenderness and romance pervading them that night, on backdrop of the falling night in Nagasaki.

“Ah! Night of rapture!

Ah, lovely night!
Thy perfect calm is breathing love
near and far!”
 

“She waits for the robins nesting"
Acrylic and colour pencils, 12" x 12"

 

       This last one is inspired from a commendable line from the second act, a deceptive promise made by Pinkerton before he departs, having no intention to return: “I'll return with roses, when the red-breasted robins are busy nesting”. Innocent and devoted as a crane, Butterfly waits and waits in utmost patience, everyday gazing at the memories, longing for a husband who has shamelessly forgotten her.

PS. I never thought I was into opera until my first time watching it live, performed by a Belarus theatrical group, which turns out to be a mind-blowing experience :)

 

me = a busy bee

     Some thing I have been working on 

 

     and another one

      My Facebook page  has been updated as well, so if you're interested, please help me 'like' and view my artworks here. Many thanks :)

PS. Here is the random list of five oddest magic realist films I am madly in love with:
1. Science of sleep
2. Donnie Darko
3. Vanilla Sky
4. Eternal sunshine of a spotless mind
5. Amelie

Papercut series "Notes from a feminist"

This is a sequential poster campaign for modernist feminism, cherishing the culture of "Girl Power" and Femininity:

Notes from a feminist

Click to enlarge 

 

a collage of WIP

       So these are a few things I'm working on at the moment. Hectic weeks with lots of storyboards based around the feminist theme, I am asked to convert my style into childlike, colourful pictures as well so that adds up to the pressure.
       Finished pieces will be updated (hopefully) soon :)

PS: I contributed an article for this beautiful Blitz issue, on page 22-22. Click here to read please, thank you!

alternative book cover

     Here is my alternative cover for Raymond Chandler's crime fiction The Big Sleep :

       Exploring Chinese/ Japanese paper-cut art, it was a mental job to get all the details right: 

       Nonetheless, I have discovered these fascinating oriental, textual decorations that will be helpful for myself later on, hopefully soon I'll produce mixed media illustrations that combine drawing and this marvellous paper cutting. 

new spirit

   Taking a different approach to my current project about Feminism, I aimed to create something quirky, quick, fun, something that is basically distinct from my normal style.

    And the result is this jean collage “Feminist jeanifesto” (reinterpreted from “manifesto”). Inspired from my favourite young adult series Sisterhood of thetravelling pants, these old jean helps me tell the herstory of feminism in a childlike, whimsical way.

Fun fact: I stole this old pair of jeans from my boyfriend :P

     Details of text and collaged images:

The Six Pillars of Feminist Wisdom :)

    And here is the spirit:

 

***

    Last of all, here are some recommendations for your leisure time:

* Chopsticks is a bittersweet tale, great treat for the eyes and especially who are into photography. 

* If interested in thrid wave feminism, here is something quirky and mischievous from young rebellious chicks: "Girls Guide to Taking Over the World: Writings From The Girl Zine Revolution"

* Go watch Life of Pi, please! It's a beautiful montage which, astonishingly, did not ruin the book's reputation. Ang Lee's visual art is simply heart-captivating.

   And I'm kinda addicted to Vivaldi's music lately...

"how to build your robot"

      A set of three illustrations drawn for my first client, based on the principle cycle of techincal products.
      These whimsical images titled "How to build your robot" depict the main stages of the process: ideal design, structure & development and maintenance. 

"How to build your robot "

Set of three B5 graphite  illustrations

       Working on this brief commission also reminds me of a wonderful comic collage "Make you own pet" by Shaun Tan, taken from his "Tales from outer suberbia" children book. Enjoy :)