Ztampfilicious

So yes, I’ve been crazy busy for the past few weeks working non-stop on various art-related stuff… From fitting out my new studio space to setting up art exhibitions and helping with the art gallery! All these left me exhausted with no time nor energy to work on anything else. Hence Ztampf! has been hibernating. But worry not, comes summer… Ztampf! will wake up with new zing!

Here are some pics to get a glimpse! More, better pics will hopefully come up soon :)

In case you have been wondering why I have been very quiet lately, well… I am participating in a group exhibition put together as an accompaniment show for the ARTHK12, featuring works by contemporary Indonesian artists: Earthly Evocations. My interactive art installation “Freedom Is A Collaborative Effort” is part of this show which opens in about 30 minutes from now! Exciting!

Here’s what I have been doing recently: making some changes to our small dining/lounge room! I have been wanting to do this for quite some time but there was always something else that were deemed more important to get done first. But finally I got to do it!

I painted the wall and did something different with it; creating a kind of wall installation featuring my artworks and a Tillandsia airplant with the swirly motif subtly hinted at the background. The swirly motif was designed to incorporate pre-existing screws on the wall where some pictures used to be hung. I plan to change up the artworks from time to time as I have several in the storage from my previous exhibitions.

We finally gave away the old IKEA single-sofabed after holding on to it for a while. We had to admit that we will no longer be able to use it anyway. We also moved the IKEA’s Klippan sofa around and change the old worn out black cover with a new one in natural color (very cheap at only HK$200!). Then we got a recycled chest of drawers to replace the ad-hoc bookshelf – a leftover from my studio that I can no longer afford to keep, and added a couple of Hemnes shelves from IKEA. I love that this way I can easily and quickly change the display too – no mess with drilling wall!

The end result is a more spacious and airy feel of the room… at an extremely economical budget :)

What do you think of it?

Freedom is a Collaborative Effort.
Yes, that’s what I believe. This is the title (and the theme) of my latest artwork, currently showing at a group art exhibition in my hometown Jakarta, Indonesia: “Motion/Sensation” Kinetic Art in Indonesia. August 4 – 21 2011, Mon – Sun 10:00 – 21:30 at the Exhibition Hall, Lower Ground Floor, East Mall, Grand Indonesia.

It is an interactive kinetic art installation. Pull the thread and the wings will flap away. The more people participate, the more vigorous the wings will flap! Freedom is not a static state, you have to continue working on it to keep it. Click the photo below to see the wings flapping in a little clip I made with my iPhone!

You can go to http://art.liefhung.com to see more of my artworks.

This has been an unusually cold winter for Hong Kong and I long for warmth!

As some of you might knew already, I make ceramics. My main medium is porcelain which is fired to 1280ºC (2,336ºF) and the firing typically runs for 18 hours. It started out pretty dark, with faintly glowing embers which then burst forth with bright orange light, bringing with it the warmth. As the temperature rises, the light became paler and paler until it’s almost white when the temperature reaches 1000ºC (1,832ºF).Firing ceramic is perfect during winter: it gets the work done while warms up the surrounding space :). Recently I did a firing and it’s resulting not only in fired porcelain, but also in a set of Paper Pack!

So let’s cuddle up in the warmth of this Furnace Paper Pack! The papers are inspired by the progress of both warmth and light inside a kiln or a furnace. These papers are wonderful to scrap a variety of subjects/themes, from contemplative to festive, from thoughtful journaling-rich pages to passionate Valentine’s love expressions.

Available now at Studio Ztampf!:

And here are some pictures from the firing session: