About Asia Team
"Live Positively" Special edition
Now we're facing a big challenge which we never experienced before
– it's a hard time and nobody know how long this will last for…
Musicians are using their talent to comfort the public,
millions watched Andrea Bocelli sung in the empty Milan cathedral.
This home concert raises a total of 127 million dollars for coronavirus relief.
Music can heal, and so can art!
This is a special edition of Asia Team Magazine titled “Live Positively”.
It contains a collection of Illustrations, paintings and photography by many of our talented Asia Team artists. Our goals in this edition is to connect, inspire and empower positive thinking – especially during the very difficult time of this global pandemic.
We hope that the artworks in this issue gives you a sense of the creators’ positive message and inspires you to stay positive with the beauty in their Arts. Perhaps, we can all begin by taking small steps towards creating a positive lifestyle – just like each beautiful stroke, lines and pixels that form a piece of beautiful artwork.
If you’re going through a rough time, we hope that this issue offers you a little lift and helps you remember that beauty can be found in the little things you do today. Please remember to stay positive! Give love and hope –carry the beauty and positive messages of this magazine to the ones you care about – family, friends, partner or even a stranger that needs a little sunshine and positive message in their lives during this hard time.
Stay Healthy & Stay Positive!
Kittens, kittens,
bring us good health and good fortune!
Contemporary Traditional paintings
Ink on rice paper
Anita Yan Wong, San Francisco, California
I'm not sure if my upcoming solo cat art show will still open in California 2020
because of corona virus outbreak,
but I want to continue painting a lot of Cats for good fortune and good vibes
during this very difficult time.
Kittens Kittens! Bring us good health and good fortune.
BIRD BIRD MOON
Tsunemasa Takahashi,Yokohama, Japan
I am over 70 years old.
The situation in this world right now is very difficult.
But young people can certainly overcome it.
The painting can be amazing even with pencil and paper in the room.
Work with your true heart.
It is important to continue a little bit every day.
I can do it for the elderly as well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
soso - 草々
Japanese Painting 日本画 183×368cm
Masamune Kikuchi, Nara, Japan
菊地将宗 - 日本、奈良
Sparrows chase through the trees and play. Fun time.
木々の間を追っかけ合い遊ぶ雀たち。楽しい時間。
2019
Faint Light 寂光
Japanese Painting 日本画 130×192cm
Masamune Kikuchi, Nara, Japan
菊地将宗 - 日本、奈良
Be enveloped in the light that gently pours.
優しくふり注ぐ光に包まれて。
2019
Sound 音
Japanese Painting 日本画 130×162cm
Masamune Kikuchi, Nara, Japan
菊地将宗 - 日本、奈良
I wanted to draw the sound of plants swaying by the wind,
the sound of flying bird wings, and the sounds heard.
風で揺れる草木の音、飛び立つ鳥の羽の音、音が聞こえる絵を描きたかった。
2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Balthus in 2020
59 x 69 cm, water color paper 2020
Xiaofei Yue, Beijing, China
The painting is a homage to the masterpiece "Girl" by Balthus,
only this time the girl is wearing a mask in light of the Corona Virus.
It reminds us the ephemerality of life
and makes us to accept the imperfection of the world.
---------------------------------------------
Blue Bird Series - The Light
Watercolor Painting
Yidan Guo, Idaho, U.S.A.
This is a watercolor painting I created in March 2020 in reflection
on this worldwide pandemic COVID-19.
The blue bird is a symbol of positive energy,
also represents the nature around us;
the young monk appears as a power of peace and prayer;
the light held by the child indicates the hope and a bright future
for human beings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
With a clear mind
Illustration
Kano Nakajima, Tokyo, Japan
I hope that the expressions on the faces of the people I painted
always have a strong heart in them.
In our daily life, we have wavered and suffered
In our daily life, we have wavered and suffered
in all kinds of things.
Let's get rid of the things that hold us back and go forward.
May the gazes of the people I painted here
Let's get rid of the things that hold us back and go forward.
May the gazes of the people I painted here
to be able to snuggle up to you as much as possible.
May you and I go through tomorrow with a clear mind.
私が描く人物の表情には、
May you and I go through tomorrow with a clear mind.
私が描く人物の表情には、
いつも強い心が宿っていたらいいな、と思っています。
私たちは日々の生活の中で、
私たちは日々の生活の中で、
あらゆることに迷い、苦しんでいます。
そうして私たちを縛り付けるものを、
そうして私たちを縛り付けるものを、
はねのけて前に進みましょう。
ここに描かれている人々のまなざしが、
ここに描かれている人々のまなざしが、
少しでもあなたに寄り添うことができますように。
私もあなたも、澄み切った気持ちで明日を過ごせますように。
私もあなたも、澄み切った気持ちで明日を過ごせますように。
--------------------------------------------
Ocean & Moonlight
Emma Hu, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A
Ocean and Moonlight Shines over the land
are both inspired by wonders of nature —
ocean, and forest. Nature has always been
a great source of inspiration for me,
especially during this difficult time
when humans are isolated from it more ever.
By recreating nature scenes on paper
I feel like I’m gaining that connection with nature back,
and I’m able to relive the peacefulness and tenderness
that nature nurtures our heart and soul.
---------------------------------------------
EBONY
350 X 240 CM -enamel on canvas,2019
Alessandra Bisi, Milano, Italy
Covid 19 in the world has been sudden and in some ways traumatic.
I have dealt with many reflections on this
but now what I want to tell you is mainly that change inevitably
also affects our individual way of working.
The spaces and the relationship we have with them
both physical and mental and intellectual have changed.
I am very positive about all these news
that initially left me thinking as an artist
because I needed to metabolize to give back
what will be new. For me this new also passes through memory.
GREAT EBONY
350 X 240 CM -enamel on canvas,2019
Alessandra Bisi, Milano, Italy
NEW HEAVEN
24 X 30 CM - Oil on canvas
Alessandra Bisi, Milano, Italy
MURO LEOPARDI
Alessandra Bisi, Milano, Italy
--------------------------------
A New Embrace
hand-cut paper
Antonius-Tín Bui, New Haven, CT, USA
These hand-cut paper portraits honor Queer Asian Pacific Islander Americans
who continue to inspire me everyday with their individuality and talent.
The love and tenderness evident in each piece provides a vision for a queer utopia.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
RESTART The Year of The Rat
重启鼠年
Digital Painting
Uncle Ray, Guangzhou, China
张艺 - 中国，广州
If we can turn back the time, what we can do?
I rather look forward and restart the year of the rat,
wish we have a brand new, energizing, smart and health year of rat,
from now to forever...
如果时光可以倒流，我们可以做什么？
我宁愿重启鼠年，向前看，
祝愿大家都拥有健康，充满活力，
从今到永远...
Uncle Ray (Yi ZHANG)
THE ENERGETIC RAT
DANCING RATS CELEBRATING CHINESE NEW YEAR
THE CARING RAT
MOTHER RAT WITH HER CHILD BATHING NEAR THE RIVER
THE SUCCESSFUL RAT
THE RAT KING CROSSING THE RIVER RIDING AN OX WITH HIS FOLLOWERS
THE WEALTHY RAT
WEALTHY RAT WITH HER MAID
INTELLIGENT RAT
INTELLIGENT RAT READING
THE PEACEFUL RAT
PEACEFUL RAT ENJOYING THE NATURE
cover calligraphy "楽“ from Huang Yongyu
Huang Yongyu is a contemporary Chinese artist known for both his prints and paintings. Huang’s ink works are often scenes of wildlife, foliage, or human figures. Born in 1924 in Fenghuang, China, he never attended a regular school, but instead studied literature and art on his own. The artist was mainly dedicated to woodblock printing until the 1960s, he began producing ink-wash paintings. During the Cultural Revolution in the mid-1960s, Huang, like other artists was persecuted by the Mao Zedong’s regime. His well-known Owl paintings—which portray owls with one eye shut was a meant as a symbol of government officials turning a blind eye to injustices—landed him in a labor camp for three and half years. More recently, the artist has broadened his practice to include sculpture. Huang currently lives and works in Beijing, China. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
