This is a blog post to describe my Five Artist Work Sample Images.
The images I have chosen are:
1) Nurmagomedov Cousins Lace Up
2) Khabib Cyan Steppe Eagle on Xuan
3) Hahashkani 111s California Native Tattoos
4) Alice Peña Bulos, Ink and Wash on Xuan
5) Sunset on the Lake with Lucy Telles Basket
1) Nurmagomedov Cousins Lace Up – (2019) Digital Photography, Retouching. 142 MB –
I was the only female allowed in the final four of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s world championship fight camps for the largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion in the world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the fastest-growing sport business in the financial world.
On August 19, 2019, Khabib was in fight camp in San José to face Dustin Poirier, in the third-to-last fight of his career.
Khabib trained in the bay since 2012. San Francisco is a mecca for martial arts.
My father was born in the same hospital as Bruce Lee and I have one degree of separation from Bruce Lee’s Sifu, Ip Man, in Wing Chun Kung Fu.
I Photoshopped out all the logos from everyone’s clothing and sports equipment. Professional athletes all have sponsorship logo contracts, but so does ESPN & the UFC.
All this to say, that I have a lot of experience in sports photography & videography.
2) Khabib Cyan Steppe Eagle on Xuan – (2020) Handmade Watercolor Paint on Xuan Sheets. 10 x 8″ –
During the Covid-19 lockdowns, everyone had hobbies. Learning how to make handmade watercolor paint was one of mine.
I made this paint with non-toxic, lightfast, raw pigment powders, organic honey, gum arabic, vegetable glycerin, and clove oil.
This was the first painting that I completed with my Minimalist Spectrum Palette of handmade watercolor paints.
This painting is based on the previous photo that I took myself. It’s not based on a random reference photo.
I did not take the photo of the Steppe Eagle, because I have never been to the Caucasian mountains of Dagestan, Russia, so that is based upon a fanciful composite of reference images and imagination.
I did this in a very limited palette of mostly cyan; using single-pigment paints and only two brushes on xuan sheets.
Xuan sheets are called “rice paper” in the USA, though they contain no rice grains. They are made of winceltis or blue sandalwood bark and rice straw. They are a tangible heritage product of China upon which many historic artworks were produced.
3) Hahashkani 111s California Native Tattoos –
This is Hahashkani Kanyon Sayers Roods. She is Mutsun and Rumsen Ohlone. I did her 111s facial tattoos on her chin in a Winter Solstice ceremony at her great-great-grandfather’s >4,200 year old unconquered Ohlone village.
This is a website where I learned a lot about California indigenous chin tattooing. As you can see there are not a a lot of Abya Yalan (“Amerikkkan”) native practitioners. Most are Japanese, Hawaiian, or Filipino. I am honored to have been asked by California native Tribal Chairwomen to perform their sacred marks.
https://www.californiaindigenouschintattooing.com/
4) Alice Peña Bulos, Tita Alice – (2023) Handmade Watercolors on Xuan Sheet +Cinnabar Paste Chop Seal. 8 x 10″ (11 x 14″ matted) –
“Tita Alice” is known as the Godmother of Filipina activism in the USA.
Tita Alice was born in 1930 in the Philippines. She received her Bachelor’s & Master’s degree in Social & Behavioral Science at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.
In 1972, she moved to San Francisco. Over four decades, she dedicated herself to empowering generations of Filipino-Abya Yalans (“Amerikkkans”) to amplify their voices through civic participation.
[Paraphrased from Assemblymember Phil Ting’s Office]
I went to elementary school in Crocker-Amazon; adjacent to Daly City & full of pin@ys, so I have always had Filipin@ friends.
During Covid Lockdowns, I made a short film about anti-Asian hate crimes & elder abuse, starring a Filipina nurse & homeschooled art high school student characters. It featured bilingual Tagalog-English dialogue.
This painting was done on Xuan Sheet in my handmade watercolors w/a genuine cinnabar paste stone seal that I hand-carved.
5) Sunset on the Lake with Lucy Telles Basket – (2023) Oil & Acrylic on Wood Panel. 7.5 x 10.5″ –
This is my tattoo client. She is Mono Lake Paiute and Southern Sierra Miwok. I did her 111s, or traditional California native woman’s chin sacred marks.
The basket in the background is her great-great-grandmother, Lucy Telles’ most famous work.
The gradient represents sunset on the lake. Whether that’s Mono Lake near Yosemite or Lake Merced in Yelamu (“San Francisco”) is open to your interpretation.
This is my first time using Schmincke Medium W to “make any oil paint water-miscible,” so I’m having a bit of a learning curve adapting.
If I am completely honest with you, I am going to do couple more oil glaze layers on her skin, blend out her dress better, and then another layer of burnt umber mixed with cobalt or prussian blue on her right arm tattoos.
But in the interest of comfortably meeting this art proposal deadline, I am submitting her as-is, because I don’t want to stress about it.
I wanted an example of my 2D work in something other than photography or watercolor/Chinese ink brush crossed with manga illustration style.
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Video Description:
This is a 2 minute 30 second filmmaking reel by Ximena Zhao.
0:01 – Intro to “Kung Flu: Yellow Peril Pushes Back.” As a screenwriter, director, and producer, I licensed this drone footage of San Francisco Chinatown landmarks during the pandemic lockdown from local operator, SpaceMonkey. I sourced the music and transitions, edited them all together, and did the color.
0:29 – Kevin Chan is a lonely old man, during the pandemic lockdowns. He is a lead character in my anti-Asian hate crimes and elder abuse short film. The US Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, have identified an “Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation in the United States.”
I did the screenwriting, producing, directing, costumes, makeup, hair, location scouting, camera operating, and editing on this clip.
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/03/new-surgeon-general-advisory-raises-alarm-about-devastating-impact-epidemic-loneliness-isolation-united-states.html
https://www.cdc.gov/emotional-wellbeing/social-connectedness/loneliness.htm
0:36 – I shot this footage for a documentary about myself as a San Francisco martial artist, but I used it for a fundraising video for “Kung Flu.” It’s me, walking through the Hispanic barrio, the Mission District of San Francisco. I ran into my dear friend, Miss Mary, who is my friend in real life and a San Francisco treasure.
0:55 – “Kung Flu” again, this time in Portsmouth Square, Chinatown. This is a fictional story about a group of homeschooled Asian female art high school students who meet up to join a neighborhood watch group. Featuring the real life United Peace Collaborative volunteers.
0:59 – “Like You” This is a dance/martial arts music video for a song by a local band. The lead singer/guitar/keyboard/theremin player is a California native (Coast Miwok) from Point Reyes Station in Marin County. I filmed this while I was pre-habbing for orthopedic surgery for ACL repair, while my ACL, MCL, LCL, and meniscus were torn.
The complete description for this video is in the YouTube video description:
https://youtu.be/EzOX9G9VZKE?si=h24hmFd6KztYVyI9
1:50 – “Kung Flu” the Trumpers, portraying the “white” European inferiority complex behind anti-Asian hate crimes.
1:56 – Combat sports journalism. Brianna Van Buren promotional short for her Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Invicta FC title win and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut.
