gracedchin

I'm a printmaker/illustrator/feminist based in Kansas. I sell my wreaths on etsy: gracedchin.etsy.com. avatar photo by Kelsey Hunter Photo

[gracedchin]

🌞Happy spring equinox! 🌞

 Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies - God damn it, you've got to be kind

[gracedchin]

Hi, Tumblr. I’ve been quiet for a while, but will be trying to update more regularly here. 

Happy International Women’s Day! ‘Solidarity, sister’ is something I used to say facetiously, because I thought it sounded hilariously out of date in 2016. Now, I usually mean it, because dang if solidarity isn’t one of the most powerful things about being human. It’s a way of saying “your pain is real, it is valid, I choose to stand with your pain in hopes you won’t have to endure it any longer.” It is the most real and reliable kind of good. So here’s to another year of standing with women, regardless of their race, assigned gender, able-bodiedness, sexuality, class, etc. 'Solidarity, sister' has a place in 2016 and any year we're still fighting for justice. ‪#‎internationalwomensday‬

[gracedchin]

Yo i just found your etsy and i'm asking for a wreath for my birthday! Your art is beautiful and so cool

<3 <3 thanks! Happy birthday, whenever it is/was!

[gracedchin]

Do you sell prints of your drawings? The Audre Lorde quote is one of the best things I've ever seen. I really needed to read/see that last night.

Wow thanks, I am glad it was in the right place at the right time! I don’t sell prints of that drawing yet, but I’m looking into getting printed on a risograph. I’ll post here updates here.

[fuckyeaharchaeology]

Hellenistic Gold Wreaths

In Ancient Greece, wreath crowns were given as prizes to the victors of athletic and artistic competitions. The wreaths were often made from the branches of Laurel, Myrtle, Oak, and Olive Trees. These trees in Ancient Greece were symbolic of various number of concepts such as wisdom, triumph, fertility, peace, and virtue. 

Gold wreaths were meant to imitate their natural counterparts.  However, due to their fragiler nature, they were only worn on very special occasions.  Many gold wreaths were dedicated as temple offerings and serves as funerary goods for royalty and the wealthy elite. The vast majority of gold wreaths date to the Hellenistic Period, after the conquests of Alexander the Great, although they have been known to have existed since the Classical era. They exemplify the exceptional skill of goldsmiths during the Hellenistic period.

Images: 1) Gold Laurel Wreath from Cyprus, 4th-3rd Century BCE.  Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Germany.

2) Gold Wreath of Oak Leaves from the Royal Tombs of Aigai. 4th Century BCE. The Louvre.  

3) Gold Myrtle Wreath. 4th-3rd Century BCE. The Benaki Museum, Athens.

4) Gold Wreath of Oak Leaves and Flowers from Attica. 2nd-1st Century BCE. Canadian Museum of History, Quebec. 

5) Gold Wreath of Oak Leaves and Acorns. 4th Century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

6) Gold Myrtle Wreath from Corinth. 4th-3rd Century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

[littlealienproducts]

[vonwiegs]

@visualfarts !!!!!

[gracedchin]

(what. MTV reblogged this wreath! v. jazzed about it)

[gracedchin]

.•*`*•.•reminders from the moon •.•*`*•. I made this design for a small project at Wonder Fair gallery, but i think it sums up a few of the things I’m feeling this fall.

[gracedchin]

I walk past this well-worn doormat (found here) a lot at my job at Wonder Fair, but this past week it had special resonance for me. Lots of things have been in flux for me this year, and it was uncomfortable. I’m trying to see that as a good thing, because 2014 was uncomfortable in that nothing in my life was changing. 

These days, I’ve been occupied trying to reconcile how recent events have thrown some parts of my identity into flux. Mostly, I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m able to have such strong feminist ideals, but so seldom apply them to my own life. Some of that has to do with growing up in a culture that socialized self-sacrifice as a value. It’s taken me a long time that I haven’t been doing the things I want other feminists to do for themselves, to draw boundaries, to value themselves, to advocate for their needs, to practice self-care, etc. If the personal is political, then I’m only doing half my job as a feminist.

I don’t really have a solution or resolution, especially when I’ve got such big feelings about everything (it’s hard to see things in perspective at this point). It just felt like a good milestone to leave along my cyber-presence. 

Oh yeah, I found a quote that better encapsulates what I was trying to say with the “there are no golden days” wreath:

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” - Soren Kierkegaard

[lainevierge]

Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can’t cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It’s just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (via lainevierge)

[gracedchin]

When I was in school, this was valuable advice given in the context of art-making. That is, as a young artist, you shouldn't decide you've made your best work already, because it puts an upper limit on what you can make or do in the future. It's felt true outside of art-making too -- it's all too tempting to want to assign a point in your life to be the best and golden (even more true when digital media keeps nostalgia just a click away) - to ask "wasn't I my best before ___ happened?" But those judgements can only truly happen late in life. The better task for now is to learn how a person should be and use the past as a point to push onward. 

Oof - this got to be a rambling post 'cause I'm a bit tired and thinking too hard about what digital archives have done to memory & how we tell stories about ourselves. I’m going through some harder days and I’ve learned to be distrustful of the overly cheery aphorisms which are usually lobbed at you when things are rough, but the sober stoicism of this statement is strangely comforting

[gracedchin]

Paper Flowers by Grace D. Chin 

[gracedchin]

You your best thing  Paper flowers by Grace D. Chin // Words by Toni Morrison 

[gracedchin]

Paper flowers by Grace D. Chin // words written by Joanna Newsom

[gracedchin]

Wreath for Ritual Salon in Lawrence, KS -- inspiration  taken from Dutch still life paintings. Crepe paper, wire, gouache, paper © 2015 Grace D Chin

[gracedchin]

“Find a place you trust and try trusting it for a while”   Crepe paper, wire, gouache, paper © 2015 Grace D Chin

Based on a Sister Corita Kent quote from her list of rules for young artists

[gracedchin]

Hi so are the flowers you use real? If so how long do they last before they dry out?

Nope! they’re all (hand)made out of paper! They do tend to fade if they’re exposed to direct sunlight, like over the course of months/years. Also they’re not great in super humid environments (alas, no luck for anyone who wants shower wreaths). P.S. I’m super flattered that they could be mistaken for real flowers!!!! :D

[kelseyhunterphoto-blog]

Grace in her studio

gracedchin.tumblr.com

[gracedchin]

Kelsey Hunter took photos of me in my studio environment today and I happened to be wearing the same shirt I wore last time she took my portrait (whoops).