2020

flipping back through these blogposts, of my art, of my character, of the contents of my life, i am amazed to see how true and relevant my thoughts were to today. How early i was already celebrating women, women in business, how passionate i came across on a certain cause, on spirituality, on friendships, and on hong kong.

2016, Hong Kong, Acrylic Paint on Canvas

Her

Chinese Dalmatian | Acrylic Paint, September 2013

Her attitude and elegance is missed.

Reference photo from Vivienne Tam Biography

Architectural Renderings

Next Campus

Art at Stanford needs three things to grow and thrive: community, identity, and accessibility. Our scheme is based on centering in on these three traits by building an Art Park for West Campus, broadcasting student talent in form of one-storey of glass pavilions arranged throughout a spatial plane. These glass pavilions will serve as performance, exhibition and studio spaces portraying as a sculpture in itself on the ground plane. The paths and pavilions are governed by two axis: the central axis (an extension of SEQ quad) and the Governor's ave axis (the gateway to the undergraduate housing community). With precise arrangement, our quad allows…

Music Venue on Waterfront

Work in Progress!

Manifesto of the Third Culture Kid

“A third culture kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents’ culture. The third culture kid builds relationships to all the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the third culture kid’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background, other TCKs.” –Ruth Hill Useem, American Sociologist and Anthropologist, 1993
 

The Third Culture Kid in Watercolor May 2013

1)  To effectively integrate aspects of a birth culture (the first culture) and a new culture (the second culture) to establish a personalized "third culture”, we have no other choice but to adapt to the majority.

2)   Upon our entry to a new destination, we must start as an infant — with an alert mind, a clean ear and a fresh tongue.

3)   Inevitably, we will lose our initial beliefs and hid our values (gained from birth culture) for the purpose of strengthening and regaining them on our next embarkation.

4)   Remove all native accents to fully immerse in the local slang. We must dress “up” if they dress “up” and we must dress “down” if they dress “down”. We must pretend to fit in to fit in.

5)   Let us belong to a group whether it is academic, business, or social.

6)   All TCKs live a shared identity and take no ownership in any one culture. Although we understand the present culture better than the average, we can learn most through our agreements and disagreements with other TCKs.

7)   If we are lucky we shall have a sense of home here.

8)   While time will leave us with an incomplete network, it will spare strong relationships.  Our task is to reject the “Out of sight, Out of mind” syndrome.

9)   We always have an urge to travel and contradict ourselves in our wish to settle down. We must accept that we do not have one but multiple identities

10)   One day, we will return to our birth country knowing that we do not share the same values and modes of thinking as our peers.  We will let go of our identities again and learn as a foreigner

Heritage 1990

Forbidden City,  Beijing. Chinese character "understand" with a poetic extra stroke.

Wake up see the new Beijing 2013, watercolor  

My time in Beijing this past fall may have been life-changing and redirected me to the place i should be. I came home with an understanding of the mainland and with it i removed all bias and my skeptical mindset. I hid a lot of me over these eight years in america and yes it was necessary to forget parts of my heritage to fit in, change, adjust whatnot. but now that i am comfortable in my yellow, i don't mind rolling down my windows and blasting asian music. it only seems natural.

Shanghai, it won't be long!

Chun 春

Summer time is nice and hot, now my life is sweet like vanilla is. Seasons have changed twice since i last wrote; from a Parisian winter to a cali spring to summer in hong-kong; now i write from bed number 3.

If only i was stuck on an airplane between time zones between places i need to go, i would sit and mold and won't even feel the slightest guilt about laying there doing nothing. 

someone says there's always a season in life to do a certain thing, but i've always wanted to do two, three, four things at once. Possible or impossible. people say i am still young, but i feel like there's no more time. change or don't change. I’m not sure yet at this point.

The ride home marks a new season for me and the ride back is also a different one. Each debark is a new start and a clean slate to do what you’ve thought about for the last 16 so hours. As if you were to combine a dozen of Mondays to mark a new change. I’ve got about a month left until I take my next one and I’ve already got a long list of changes. Tiring? Yes, and very necessary to breakdown and re-adjust myself like play-doh.

I’m running out of planes to catch. School’s almost over and soon everything will be settled. And seasons will blend, changes harder to make.

春 means summer. 春 means youth.

Apologies for the long delay. I finally completed the painting for the beloved Chun Family: Judith, Tom and Punky based on an old family portrait, amazing how baby punky chun got her sass on.

Chun Family Portrait in Acrylics Aug 2012

C'est moi

http://humsci.stanford.edu/faces/story/xiaoze_xie

中 CHUNG

Chung, 2012 in Acrylics

中:“Oh i checked it out on fb. Lol. i can tell it is me. but i expected a different drawing’

V: “haha just by your eye! ANGEL EYES. doesn't look like you now though. The picture was from the cruise…when you didn't play computer”

中:“my angel eyes are long gone”

place

il a été depuis longtemps. It has been a while. I was struck by great discouragement in the last few months and thus wasn't able to complete a single painting. But in the hustle and bustle of paris, treading on the same pavements that all impressionists once stood upon, i found my little place at the l'ecole art plastiques tucked away on a side street in the 10th arr. I began working on the first portrait of yr 2012, my brother. it is far from being finished but i thought i might give you all a little preview. Happy chinese new year, 萬事如意。

Pretty Fabrica

Brittany Yoon,  Summer 2011, in Acrylics

  another to the series! Brit stood out as one of my truest friends at Hotchkiss. Our first year at boarding school could not have been homey without our nightly dosage of microwaved korean rice &seaweed while watching CSI. we were strange but who cared? Four years flew by as we practiced art together with mr. noyes. through sophomore dramas and senior craze, we've been through ups and downs literally. And although we've lost touch just a little - i'm sure we'll have a ton to say when i see you next brit!


Marcheta Marshall,  Summer 2010, in B&W Acrylics (see post: Mon Amour)

Shelina Kassam, Summer 2010, in Acrylics (see post: Saudi Eyes)

a Homage

He built a family from scratch

Paradigm, Summer 2011 in Acrylics

This long hiatus gave me time to think about big and bigger plans with my dear sisters. And well of course, our relatives trigger most of them. But when does reality run accordingly to "the" plan? i will let you know when i find out.  Tonight, I'm all crunched and packed ready to leave tomorrow. Off for a groovy school year!

Save the Children

walked by a little booth at time square the other day. sometime you need to stop your routine, sit and listen.or else life becomes empty of surprises. http://www.savethechildren.org/

Porcelain

(Above: Fine China by The Li children, 96-03)

As little ones, my parents would bring us to whistler every christmas. My favourite part was not the snow or the beanie baby store, it was the pottery painting place at the mall. Going there was like going to disneyland. i got to make a mess that i didn't have to clean up!

(Above: Ceramics Collection made by Vickie Li, 2002)

Time adds value to all things.

Oli, my royal highness

(Above: Oli in Acrylic Gems and Paint, Summer 2011)

No other dog is as adorbs as my dear Oli, my little toy poodle. I swear. Around four winters ago, we boarded a plane to tokyo and came home unexpectedly with this baby boy. 

Going along with the themed pet portraits, starting with dad's horse powerdrifter portrait, i have now added another! and there will be more to come! 

This one is inspired by the one and only, FS Home Collections from the Netherlands. They make the most exquisite pillow and throws! &If you have seen my bed, in hong kong or california, you would have noticed the exploding nest of pillows i collect.

Good Girls Gone BIZ

I found out about this little snazzy trick to paperclips. Being the only intern along with 9/10 boys, really makes me love the color pink.

Besides the many things i am exposed to here, at the bank, i learned aboutRoutine. Everyday is the same one.

The excitement apparently are rising decimal points 0.00. I never considered IB, my dream-to-be, and this internship has reconfirmed that it will not be. But this summer, i am definitely more informed and knowledgable about the stock market than ever. ready to invest!

I can probably call Stanford Women in Business (SWIB) my "thing" at stanford. Next year, it will be my third year on board. As the spring conference director, and past marketing director, hey stanny, there will many new things to look forward to!

Over my years at SWIB, we have grown into a on-campus household name. Each year, we host about 25 workshops, 2 conferences, spring internships, a mentorship program, and a stock exchange competition. Of course, we also have our own philanthropy, socials, and formals. It is not just about business exposure that i love, but inspiration! The girls in SWIB are brilliant, smart, and successful;

here are a few business cards, my team and i made to spread the word about swib;

Check out our swib website at http://swib.stanford.edu/

And our swib blog: http://swib.stanford.edu/blog/

I managed to squeeze in some time for art work, art from work.

OMF@, Graphic Art, Summer 2011.