Pangrok Sulap

Recently, from social media, we read of a group of young artists from Sabah who have been active in printmaking to tell a tale, a tale about life, a "cerita rakyat"...

This their story :

• Pangrok Sulap bermula dari idea melukis karekter kartun mengenai realiti cerita rakyat yang gembira di negeri Sabah.Saat perkumpulan anak-anak muda yang liar dengan cerita-cerita yang direka menjadi bahan ketawa.
• Dari cerita rakyat sehingga menjadi aksi rakyat.Komuniti kecil bawah Kaki Gunung Kinabalu (Ranau) ini bergiat aktif dalam pelbagai aktiviti kesenian.Berjuang bersama seni rojak untuk terus hidup.
• Disini kami percaya setiap manusia itu adalah seniman. Kami ingin mengajak semua orang untuk berbuat apasaja berkaitan seni sebagai penyampai pesan dalam kehidupan seharian kita.
• Bersama-sama kami memperjuangkan hak-hak rakyat.
  
  'Kita tidak mampu melakukan yang besar, kita mulakan dengan yang kecil'
• 
  

  
  Teaching Chow Kit Kids about woodcut printing....  along with social activist, Syed Azmi

     

  
  Melakukan kerja-kerja amal disetiap ruang yang ada. Belajar berkongsi ilmu dan menjadi pendorong manusia yang lainnya.
  
  Kami akan terus belajar dengan kamu.
  
  Pangrok Sulap;-
  Pangrok = Punkrock
  Sulap = Pondok rehat di sawah/kebun petani (Dusun)

********************************************************************************************************************************

- Wonderful efforts by these young artists. Wishing them all the best in their creative & charitable ventures!

Do check out their FB page 

https://www.facebook.com/PangrokSulap/

Chinese printmaker..Jiang Miao - Woodcuts

I came across this series of prints from Ode to Art, Singapore
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151322906526924.1073741825.57329046923&type=1

It's a fresh look at the age-old - Woodcut technique!

This is what they have to say
ABOUT HER
Born in Jilin in 1981, Jiang Miao obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art from the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2005. She went on to major in woodblock printmaking and received a Master's Degree in Fine Art in 2009 from the same institution. Having attracted a considerable amount of attention from the artistic community in Beijing even before she graduated, Jiang held her highly successful and critically acclaimed first solo show at the Triumph Art Space in 2009. Her signature black and white prints have garnered attention for their uncanny depiction of the relationship between self and other. 

ABOUT HER WOODCUT
The woodblock is arguably the most ancient and time-honoured form of expression in East Asian printmaking. Distinctive for its sophisticated designs and ubiquitous application of flat colour, the woodblock has served as a great source of inspiration to many Western artists such as Whistler and Gauguin. 

Within China itself, the woodblock print movement initiated by the famous author Lu Xun gained popularity in the 1930s for its sociopolitical content. 

姜淼 女孩系列之9, GIRL SERIES NO. 9
90 X 90 CM, PAPER

Ode to Art is pleased to present the work of contemporary Chinese artist Jiang Miao. Jiang has introduced a fresh modern twist to this culturally important art form through her ethereal prints, which combine the abstract with the realistic.

女孩系列之46, GIRL SERIES NO. 9
90 X 90 CM, PAPER

萌发 THE FLOURISHING
WOODBLOCK / WOODCUT, 120 X 90 CM

Enjoy and be inspired!

One more -- I particularly like this

时间的缝隙 (THE SPACES BETWEEN TIME)
WOODBLOCK/WOODCUT, 120 X 120 CM:

Review (extract from Ode to Art, Singapore) : In The Spaces Between Time, Jiang displays her penchant for exploring the intersection between the figurative and the literal through the depiction of a human body somewhat concealed by diaphanous lines. The steadiness and fine quality of the white lines are testament to Jiang's impeccable craftsmanship. 

Using the visual metaphor of a single inchoate body suspended in the midst of numerous threads that symbolise the linear passage of time, Jiang communicates the idea that our existence is transient and somewhat obscured by the rapid changes that take place around us. 

Jiang's elegant approach to the human physique and the gentle application of shadow gives the print a sense of lightness that is not commonly found in other works of the same medium.