love; ten things i love this week

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1. My sister coming for a visit from New Zealand. She visits us once a year but I missed her last year as I was in The States. She is an absolute pleasure to feed and to show her what I've been up to with my work. LOVE!

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2. My sister saying the best comment ever on the weekend while my mum and I were both in the kitchen cooking. My mum was doing her amazing Italian zucchini flower fritters while I was preparing my raw lunch and my sister said "It's like MasterChef in here!" I giggled so hard and said, "...and you're the judge!" LOVE!

3. Rainbows!!! It is Autumn (Fall) here in Australia and the rains are soooo grand! Love the sun shining it's glory through the rain and presenting me with a lovely rainbow! LOVE!

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4. Detoxing. I have thoroughly enjoyed detoxing this week. it was my first real attempt at it and I highly recommend it! Check out my full post about the experience here. LOVE!!!

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5. Drinking mineral water with slices of cucumber. As I'm drinking more water because of the detox, I'm finding mineral water with slices of cucumber or strawberries or other fruits really enjoyable! Makes drinking 2 Litres a day tolerable! LOVE!

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6. Driving in Australia again. It took me a long time to get used to the other side in The States and it seems to be taking me a while to get used to driving back! Weird how that happens! Someone told me to remember that the driver side is always closest to the middle of the road, no matter what country you drive in. Great advice! LOVE!

7. This blog about Cake Wrecks! It is hilarious to see some disastrous cakes out there from bad spelling to just plain ugly! Check it out! LOVE!

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8. Eating an Indian meal with my good Aussie friends. I did miss good Indian food in the States. Sorry guys, but Australia does have THE best Indian food around! LOVE!

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9. All my Aussie friends excited about eating raw with me! So many have posted on my Facebook wall links to raw restaurants here in Melbourne, but I'm sure they will not compare to the ones in California! This IS a type of food Americans do very well! LOVE!

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10. My Mum. With me being a crazy artist, my mum sure does handle me very well. it must be a tough job being the mum of an artist who keeps shaking up her own life to find something to satisfy that crazy hunger inside.  I LOVE MY MUM!

eat; cashew cheese spread

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So I'm back in Melbourne, Australia for a few months and yes, I've been subjected to my mums Italian cooking all week, throwing my raw endeavors out the window. But not for long!  I mean seriously, I haven't eaten her cooking in over a year and am allowing myself the pleasure for a while. I do intend to post some of her amazingness as soon as I get a hold of my own great camera. Time to start saving!

While in The States, I purchased my second raw cookbook, The Raw 50 by Carol Alt and decided to start with the super easy cashew cheese recipe. This makes a great spread for sandwiches, or a yummy dip for a big bowl of raw vegies and is super easy to make! I watered it down and added a little olive oil using it as a 'sauce' for a raw zucchini pasta...yum! Divide the mixture in two and add sun dried tomatoes to the second half for something different. I also added liquid smoke to the sun dried tomato dip for a more intense flavour.

What you need;

2 cups raw cashews, soaked for four hours

1/2 cup of filtered water

1 yellow bell pepper

5 tbs lemon juice

small handful of fresh parsley

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

2 heaped Tbs Nutritional yeast

1 garlic clove

1 shallot

salt and pepper to taste

Sun Dried Tomato Chashew Cheese

1/3 cup sundried tomato

Drain the nuts and dry with a kitchen towel. Roughly chop bell pepper, parsley, garlic and shallot.

Throw everything into your food processor and whiz away until you get a creamy consistency. If you are wanting to try the sun dried tomato version, simply divide the mixture, leaving the half in the food processor and add the sun dried tomatoes. Whiz until combined.

The one on the left is the cashew cheese spread that I watered down for a saucy constancy and the one on the right is the sun dried tomato flavour. Both are yum!!!

Bon Appetito!

pink; initiator

www.lintianmiao.com

Lin Tianmiao is a Chinese born artist who studied in the U.S.A during the early 1980's, where she soon become a successful textile designer. Her career as an artist did not begin until she moved back to China in 1994 with her artist husband where they opened up their hutong studio to show their works to the public. She was quickly placed into the group of female Chinese artists making nuxing yishu 'female art'.

Most of you know I have a connection to China, especially Beijing where I undertook an artist in residence program in 2008. I do have a love/hate relationship with Beijing and the Chinese art world as a result, but I wont go into that here. What I will say is that one thing I did not like was their obsession with fiberglass and even though Initiator is made of fiberglass and silk, it does have something else to offer that is more than just being a cheesy fiberglass sculpture.

www.lintianmiao.com

  
Initiator references both Western and Eastern cultures of myths and traditional gender stereotypes. The woman and the frog are bound in decorative silk fabric, which is a common theme of Lin's practice. China’s female tradition of cloth production and embroidery are evident here as with references to her cultural heritage of foot binding for 'beauty' which actually disabled women from walking. Here the woman is bound but so is the frog, suggesting both sexes are bound by traditional roles. 

One cannot help but also notice Western fairytale references in this work. Rupunzel and The Frog Prince are just two that come to mind. Both stories have a male character that eventually saves the female character. A form of binding exists within these fairytales for little girls growing up in Western cultures (and may I suggest little boys too) as they are taught through these stories how they are to take on their role as 'women' within the society they are growing into. To always look pretty, to always be vulnerable and to always expect to be saved.

www.lintianmiao.com

The paragraph below is taken directly from Lin Tianmiao's website:

"There are pink arcs on the background wall, which can be interpreted as commas---a non-stop process, or as swimming sperms. A girl, wrapped in white silk cloth with decorative patterns, stands with her hands half open, in a somewhat hesitative posture. Beside the girl there is a frog, also wrapped in white silk cloth with decorative patterns, and whose hands turn out to be coarsely veined male human hands, drawing the numerous white silk threads that drape from the girl’s body."

www.lintianmiao.com

This work, with its comically large pink representation of 'swimming sperm' is beautifully constructed in the Eastern tradition of silk crafts and successfully represents the gender differences that exists between Eastern and Western traditions. Lin Tianmiao's work definitely draws inspiration from both cultures, creating a tactile, sensual and delicately beautiful installation experience for the viewer to ponder.

love; ten things i love this week

This week, I flew back to Melbourne to spend a few months with my family and friends, so things i love this week will be dedicated to my return to Melbourne, playing tourist in my hometown and catching up with friends.

1. Wearing my sequined Mickey ears and my I <3 L.A T-Shirt to the airport! LOVE!!

2. Having a last glass of pink champagne with my wonderful housemate Natalie at LAX. Bubbles and flying are a wonderful match made in heaven! LOVE!

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3. I decided to order a vegan meal on the aeroplane on the way back from L.A and it was the best decision I've made! I've always ordered vegetarian meals and always just picked at the smelly things I uncovered. Choosing vegan, I had a really nice Indian curry for dinner and a fruit compote for breakfast. Try it if you hate aeroplane food! LOVE!

4. Having a very long Italian dinner with my family on the night I arrived back. Coming from an Italian background, you can only imagine how much of a feat it is! Eating is a three hour endeavor! I even made an artwork about it in 2007! Check it out here!

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5. Waking up to the smell of espresso and the sound of Italian radio. I realised how much I missed hearing the Italian language on a regular basis! Might have to bring back mum's way of starting the day to L.A!

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6. Having my first latte in Melbourne. Most of you may know that Melbourne is known for it's great coffee. It really is a town where bad coffee is hard to find. I met my friend Sam at this place that has opened up while I've been away called Ponyfish Island in Southbank. It is set under a walk way bridge on the Yarra River. Nice way to spend my second day in Melbourne!

7. Watching this catctus leaf float on by as we walked the river bank in Southbank. Sooooo random! It was a little L.A coming to say hi and reminding me it is simply an ocean away. LOVE!

8. Italian Hot Chocolate from Brunettis...A MUST! It will almost kill you but hey, what a lully way to die! LOVE!

9. Coming back to clothes I left behind. It feels like I've got a new wardrobe without having to shop! LOVE!

10. Seeing my 18 year old cat, Missy. Something kinda lully about old pets that are still around years later. She doesn't walk that well anymore and as a result, cannot climb at all, but she is still lively and young at heart. LOVE!

eat; raw strawberry cheesecake

strawberryplanters.net

This week, I hosted an eatpinklove party as I am heading on to Melbourne, Australia for a few months. Before coming to the U.S.A, I told my friends back home I wanted to make a raw strawberry cheesecake (mind you, I had NO idea what that meant!) and present it to David Lynch. I naively thought I would meet him and we would become best pals. Soooo typical of a newby to L.A! For the party, I decided to try my hand at my first ever raw strawberry cheesecake, in the hope that David would get this strange feeling that he had to go for a drive and end up at my house! He didn't, but the cheesecake was AMAZING and everyone loved it! It is Cafe Gratitude's cheesecake recipe form their book that you can buy on-line here.

 I've tweeked the recipe so to have a chocolate flavoured base and I marinated slices of strawberries in a splash of Cointreau and agave for a few hours, to pour over the top. It was YUM!!! You can also replace the strawberries with whatever fruit takes your fancy!

What you need;

Crust

2 cups almonds, soaked overnight

1/4 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

1/2 cup chopped fresh dates

1/4 cup raw chocolate powder or nibs

Filling

3 cups cashews, soaked for 4 hours

2 cups of chopped strawberries

1 cup lemon juice

3/4 agave or honey

1 tsp vanilla

3 Tbs lecithin

3/4 raw unsecented coconut butter or oil

In a food processor, add the almonds, vanilla and salt and pulse until crumbed. Be careful not to over process. Add the chopped fresh dates a small amount at a time and pulse until the mixture sticks together. Place into a bowl and stir in the chocolate powder or nibs with a wooden spoon. Press into a lined 9 1/2-inch spring tin with the back of a metal spoon, spreading the base evenly.

To make the filling, use a high speed blender and start by adding the lemon juice and strawberries. Blend until strawberries are broken down. Add the agave and vanilla and half the cashews. Blend for a few minutes then add the rest of the cashews. Blend until very smooth.

I used coconut oil, which at room temperature, is solid. To melt the oil, place in a hot water bath as shown above. Once liquid, add to the cashew filling in the blender along with the lecithin. Blend until really, really smooth and creamy. This is very important! What the texture is when you stop blending will be the texture of the cheesecake, so make sure you are patient!

Pour the yumminess into the prepared springtin, spreading it evenly. Place in the refridgerator for a few hours.

Once set, be careful not to release the cheesecake too quickly when unlocking it from the tin. Slowly slide it onto a serving dish. This is what your cheesecake will look like, undecorated.

And this is what it looks like decorated! You can do whatever you like with the topping. Blend it into a strawberry sauce that you pour on individual servings or do as I did and decorate the whole cheesecake. Whatever you do, have fun with it!

Buon Appetito!

pink; yellow green violet lamp

Yellow Green Violet Lamp, David Lynch, 2011

As most of you know, I am a HUGE Lynch fan and this past week, I went to William Griffin Gallery in Santa Monica to check out his latest art exhibition. Even though David Lynch refers to the colour as violet, I've included one of his sculptures into this weeks pink category called Yellow Green Violet Lamp. 

As I walked into the amazingly spacious gallery in Santa Monica, I was like a giddy teenager, hoping to see the man himself. Lynch was not there but his presence was surely felt. Along the walls of the gallery were five large scale paintings that had light bulbs attached within them and sculptural elements stuck to them. A semi circle stage coming out from the main wall, showcased a group of his sculptures and in an adjoining room were beautifully delicate lead pencil drawings, which I loved!

View within the gallery space

Yellow Green Violet Lamp was one of nine sculptures, all with lights attached to them. They had exposed wires which connected the sculptures to a main power source, replicating an umbilical cord and as I stood there looking at the group of these 'lamps', I was reminded of Louise Bourgeois' early sculptures. When she first moved to New York with her family, Bourgeois made sculptures out of abandoned wood from the water towers in New York to keep her company as she felt lonely being away from friends and family in France. These sculptures of Lynch's seemed to be doing the same thing. They appeared to be connected to each other, keeping each other company and creating a dialogue between themselves. I was a little disappointed I was not invited to experience the space between each sculpture; the platform created an obvious distance and barrier between viewer and object.

Detail, top

Yellow Green Violet Lamp is made from cold-rolled steel, plaster, tint and resin. I can see how resin would appeal to Lynch. It has an unusual organic looking texture, a dullness to it's finish similar to wax and is a strangely tactile material. Because of this, the material can look odd as it's origins do not appear to be man made, but strangely they do at the same time.  I can't help but think of prosthetic limbs here, as they too are created using man made materials but the aim is to look organic, creating a strange dichotomy. Lynch's combination of cold-rolled steel and resin really does reflect his surrealist take on the world, both are man made and when combined, create an unusual relationship between materials.

As I stood there looking at Yellow Green Violet Lamp, I noticed the title of each of the works and realised Lynch did not give these sculptures individual names that one would expect. Every sculpture's title simply had a description of the colours visible within it and all ended with the word 'lamp'. What makes this interesting is you can really hear Lynch's voice in the naming of these sculptures. There is a simplicity and honesty within naming these sculptures what they obviously are. No pretension, no expectation, almost childlike and to some degree, real.

Detail, base

The sculptures took on individual persona's, even if they were given simple titles. Each one had a strange thin wonky body, supported by a steel frame like wounded soldiers and a glowing head or headpiece that didn't seem it would do the job a 'lamp' is required to do.  Each one had a strong presence, living within a strange barren world only Lynch could imagine. These sculptures are truely something to be experienced having been created by a contemporary surrealist artist, who has given us strange films, paintings, drawings and sculptures in the surrealist style since the late seventies.

The exhibition is on until the end of May and if in Los Angeles, I highly recommend a visit. These sculptures and the lead drawings in the next room were definitely the highlight of the show for me.

love; ten things i love this week

1. The amusement park at Santa Monica Pier! I do love an amusement park and this one is pretty great being right on a pier! It opened in 1909 and you can find out more about it's history here. LOVE!

2. The way all the stuffed toy prizes are lined up in rows at amusement parks and how sad and weather beaten some look. I do love the mass of them, all with different personalities! LOVE! You can check out more pics on eatpinklove's Facebook page!

3. Zoltar! I'm soooo loving Zoltar and his fortune telling cards at amusement parks here in The Sates. Something kinda creepy about them but oh soooo right! This one at Santa Monica Pier even had a button to translate his words of wisdom into Spanish! LOVE!!!

4. Carousels. This photo I took of the one at Santa Monica pier. There is something magical about Carousels.  LOVE!!

5. Having in impromptu rose petal fight with my housemates, while drinking champagne! We ended up taking a series of crazy photos wearing a petal on our noses! CRAZY LOVE!

6. Going to The Valley with my friend glo to have a facial! I am soooo bad at relaxing and being quiet that they told me to shhhhhh. Too much fun to be had as a Valley Girl! LOVE!!!

7. My housemate turning her hair pink for eatpinklove's party! Now thats commitment! LOVE!!!

8. Painting men's nails! I do love to see nail polish on a heterosexual male! Something kinda manly about it! LOVE!!!

9.  Toasting to my time in L.A with Dolphina's famous Cup Cake Martini's! Yes, I will be posting this yummy recipe soon! LOVE!

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10. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I Heart L.A! Oh how I'm going to miss this city, but as Arnie said one fine 80's day, "I'll be back!" LOVE!!