Francis Bacon at the Met in New York

I more than halfway across the country right now which means I am that much closer to New York, "the land of art."

I am very excited about a Francis Bacon retrospective showing there at the Met; he is one of my favorite artists and the chance to witness so much of his work in person, that I previously only seen on the pages of books was a chance that I couldn't pass up.

("Self Portrait" by Francis bacon '71)

I am going to try to expose myself to as much art as possible when I am in New York and hopefully will be able to share with you, "my gentle readers," some of the cool shows and artists that I see.

Don't forget to say "hey!"

-"Nevada" Sam Graham

Sam Graham is a los angeles artist, photographer, animator, writer, and musician

Tortilla Chip and Tootsie Roll Sculpture

I like to use the extra food that isn't eaten at restaurants to make art out of. This is a funny little character that I created at my favorite Mexican restaurant Sion's in Manhattan Beach using an uneaten tortilla chip and the tootsie rolls that they gave us after we were done eating (that no one wanted.) So I thought this was a good way to do something useful with the extra food. I hope you enjoy (my Mom got a kick out of it!)

Don't forget to say, "hey!"

-Sam

Sam Graham is a los angeles artist, photographer, animator, writer, and musician

Totem with Eyeballs

(Click image to go to flickr where you can see it in larger sizes)

This is a totemic figure that I created in my sketch book -I fancied it so I decided to turn it into a completed work which is what you see here. This is an example of a cartoonish style that I have been working with as of late. 

Don't forget to say "hey!"

-Sam

Sam Graham is a los angeles artist, photographer, animator, writer, and musician

Aquamarine and Orange Multi-faced Head

(Click to see it larger on flickr)

This is a digital painting (using photoshop) of the multi-face'd character I have been working with for a while now. It's inspired by Tibetan Buddhist art. In particular, this art form's multi-limbed and multi-headed characters that express a "spiritual" or "enlightened" state.  I am interested in the fact that Tibetan art uses a vocabulary of "multiples" to get at this concept, and with this series, I am endeavoring to adapt this concept of multiple features to express a spiritual state in my own way.

My brief 1 AM example of what I mean by "spiritual state": a blissful altered state of consciousness in which selfhood seems to transcend your familiar self. Unfamiliar abilities, or knowledge might be encountered. 

Don't forget to say, "hey!"

-Sam

Sam Graham is a los angeles artist, photographer, animator, writer, and musician

Grape

(Click to see this photo in larger sizes on flickr.) 

Here's a cool photo I took in Orange County of a model in very low light conditions. I call it "Grape." 

Don't forget to say, "hey!"

-Sam

Sam Graham is a los angeles photographer, artist, animator, writer, and musician

"Midnight"

(You can click on the image to go to "flickr" to view it in "all sizes")

With these new images I have been thinking a lot about Francis Bacon, and his process of working spontaneously and allowing chance to come into play. As per Bacon, I started without a clear idea of where I was going to end up -trying to capture something transient. 

Here's are some details of the eyes:

Don't forget to say, "hey!"

-Sam

Sam Graham is a los angeles artist, photographer, animator, writer, and musician

"I"

This is a new image that I created -primarily on my birthday, May 16th. You can click on the image to be taken to my "flickr" page where you can look at the drawing in "all sizes."

Don't forget to say, "hey."

-Sam

Sam Graham is a los angeles artist, photographer, animator, writer, and musician

"Black Magic"

lips wet with your saliva

speak to you in dark rooms.

you are listless

you give somebody your hand
a concealed door twists open

you walk inside..

the orchestra plays on
rusty horns
the song of your life..

you dance

there’s a spotlight on you

you twist around

there is a skeleton 

holding your shoulder

you look into its
sockets..

you drop to your knees

and spin deep into the floor

into a dark red crevice.

New Colorful Image: "Swirl"

Don't forget to say, "hey"

-Sam

Sam Graham is a los angeles artist, photographer, animator, writer, and musician