Saturday, June 22, 2013

Rockin' Jelly Bean: ロックンロールペンとインクを満たしている!




When it comes to cars, girls and monsters, there's no one in the world of contemporary illustration that renders them quite like the amazing artist, Rockin' Jelly Bean. One of Japan's premire illustrators, Jelly combines west coast kustom kar kulture esthetics, with subcultural references and erotic pinup girls.

Saddling two cities, Rockin' Jelly Bean seamlessly melds the two world together to create amazing and original artwork which is reproduced for the masses in silkscreen posters, cloths and more recently beach towels
Following in the foot steps of the likes of Robert Williams, with his lo-brow figurative graphics and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, with his anti-hero Rat Fink, Rockin' Jelly Bean has carved out his own niche in the world of art graphics. 

True to his name, Rockin' Jelly Bean is also a fantastic bass player in the amazing Tokyo surf combo Jackie and The Cedrics, as well local Los Angeles favs The Chopsticks. The energy he puts into his live shows are only equaled in the energy that explode off the page in his illustrations. 

The following interview, along with photographs I have taken of Jelly here in Los Angeles, was a chance to catch up with an old friend and to get a peek into the colorful world of Rockin' Jelly Bean,

Coma ni-ci!

Julie Pavlowski Green
June 22, 2013




Julie Pavlowski Green: Do you work with just paint or do you incorporate digital media?


Rockin' Jelly Bean: I use it in various ways. But basically, I scan the art works which I drew with pencil and attach color with PC.  I sometimes roughen a touch through a copier before scanning. All the printing office and the print factories accept it by data now. When I started drawing, it was all manual labor. When I sell the original picture, I use the acrylics for canvas.

JPG: What is your favorite Monster movie?



RJB: "Godzilla"!!! I wanted to say that, but, I who was crosspatch didn’t watch much Godzilla movie when I was kids. It is King Kong of 1976! I remember that I watched that many times in theater.

JPG: Why wear the Mexican wrestling mask? 

RJB: I do not want to show very much the scar on my face which was made at the time of a motorcycle accident.  This is a nom de plume. It is the stage name of my band.


JPG: When did you start drawing? 




RJB: I don’t remember that, probably I think it to be the drawing which I described in the class of kindergarten. I was the child who always drew graffitis and played around in childhood.

JPG: What bands have you been in over the years?

RJB: I play the bass in a Japanese surfing band called “Jackie & The Cedrics” for 23 years. I still continue it.  And also when I lived in L.A., I played the bass in the bubble-gum punk band called "The Chopsticks".






JPG:  When did you join Jackie and The Cedrics?

RJB: It is a strange story, but Enocky the guitar player and drummer for Jackie and I were brought together by force by a certain guy.  The man is old Japanese crazy Ventures geek called Mr. X.  We were abducted and we were given costumes and musical instruments and force to 
practice. Cedrics began like that.

JPG:  Have you ever been involved with Manga?

RJB: I gave up the dream in childhood. 


JPG: When did The Chopsticks start as a band?

RJB: I think that start 2002 or 3. Momo of The Go-Devils moved in to L.A., and we were tempted by Lazy Cowgirls drummer Roy. And I was introduced to Roy who was a mutual friend of Wild Ox. Because I usually did old-fashioned zombie garage bands, a new thing wanted to do us. 

And also it was the once-in-a-lifetime chance that it could do band with Roy! We carried out activity only for just a little over two years, but it was very very fun. I still remember excitement on the way home of the first show at the Garage! Oh, we miss California sun...



JPG:  What are you driving these days?

RJB:  I do not drive very much after I (moved) back to Japan. I get on the train. It is a substitution for it. Train is fun! So many various people getting on, and I like observing them. I can watch very many beautiful girls in Tokyo!

JPG:  When did you first visit America? 


RJB:  I came to U.S.A. on a tour with Cedrics in 1992.  At first, I was surprised at all being reverse to Japan. I saw all in a “POP” to my eyes! The neon light which (I) thought that were fantastically cool which stopped to my eyes when I ran by car at night was the neon of the laundryman...


JPG:  When did you start Erostika, the Rockin' Jelly Bean store in Harajuku? 

RJB:  I did not begin that shop. It is the shop of Wild OX, who was a friend of mine in L.A. and early member of The Chopsticks. Maimai who worked on my old brand “Erosty pop!” started it with Wild OX when they wanted to do something about me in Japan nine years ago. 


JPG:  Who is your all time favorite bass player?

RJB:  Bruce Foxton of The JAM!!!  I began to play bass to see his stage action.



Rockin' Jelly Bean's illustrations for my band The Checkers
JPG:  Your work is very sensual. What illustrators were you most influenced by?

RJB:  There are very, very many (of) them! However, it would have to be R.Crumb and Robert Williams. R.Crumb opened the gate of the opening of the sex to me. He is God for me. In addition, works of Osamu Tezuka and Go Nagai of the Japanese great old comic artist is in my blood and meat and is constructed.

JPG: Who is your favorite pinup girl?

RJB: This is not a pinup girl, but my dream girl is Phoebe Cates!



JPG: I know this is an obvious question but why do you draw pinup girl themes? 

RJB: The naked woman is cool and beauty is stronger than a man!

JPG: How did you end up doing a t-shirt for The Rolling Stones?

RJB: There was a phone call from Mick before Japan tour.

JPG:  What are you working on right now?

RJB: I have project of two figure dolls now. One is “Mystique of X-MEN in collaboration characters with the Marvel Comics. The other is company called “Wing” which makes the devil girl of my poster character. Both figure dolls are very pretty and cute! 

I am drawing main visual of the documentary film of the band Teengenerate  called “GET ACTION!!” which will be shown this autumn. They are doing a re-union show only once in Japan and USA. Of course The 5,6,7,8's and Cedrics, The Rip Offs, Phantom Surfers and Devil Dogs also appear in this, too. I (am) really looking forward to seeing (it) and I feel very honored that I can be engaged in this.

I have big annual Erostika event in September. And finally, my 1st art book is going to release this winter. I worked on it for almost six years. 
This book will be filled with art work I created in L.A. before coming back to Japan. It will feature mainly original art works, and shows old print technology. It's gonna be an interesting book!





"Bodies of Water"



"Venus"
Type R Chromogenic Print

Taking a break from my Paper Ballet project, I thought I would share with you a few images I created awhile back. They are constructed from my imagination and incapsulate a few ideas I have about the portrayal of woman in photographs, creating a narrative between sexuality and containment, effervescence and contentment. Venus riding on the crest of a wave, the excitement and unconfined enthusiasm of youth and the contained beauty and power of wisdom, are characteristics which are embodied within each and everyone of us.

"Bodies of Water" were physically created by sandwiching slide film of portraits I had shot, with close up details at the waters edge and then printing them on Type R paper. The beauty and warmth of film can be felt in these images. A discerning eye can quickly tell the difference. The tenor is at a different pitch. It's like tasting fine dark chocolate after only experiencing Hershey's all your life.


"Youth"
Type R Chromogenic Print

As I began experimenting with the positioning of the frothy water beneath the black and white portraits, so many symbolic references came (literally) flooding to mind. The birth of Venus - Goddess of love, beauty and passion, is usually portrayed riding a wave on a shell. The sexuality of woman and water portrayed in Mermaids and Sirens also came to mind. Small, tiny bubbles glistening in the summer sun reflected pink, green and blue hues that burst forth like Champaign, their ebullition reminded me of the unbridled actions of youth. Then, with a portrait of my Grandmother against a black backdrop, as I positioned the setting sun on her brow, the water embraced in her heart, I felt like I was able to visually render what true Wisdom looked like.

I'm happy that I literally grew up in the midst of the emerging digital age in the Bay Area. Throughout college, I was a "lab rat". I started out at a black and white lab called Bay Custom Lab in the Richmond District. It was a family of sorts, with crazy Aunts and Uncles and many, many siblings. I also worked at the first color photo lab on the West Coast, Faulkner Color Lab and the first digital lab in the United States, Robyn Color Lab. All of these labs in San Francisco have since closed. But by working around the tools of the trade both in film and digital, I was able to bridge the gap and apply each element when I knew the image would benifit from it. I now work primarily on the computer and shoot with a Nikon D800. Yummy pixels! But I do pick up my medium format Yashica camera on occasion, loaded with black and white film.


"Wisdom"
Type R Chromogenic Print

Photography as Art was embraced early on in San Francisco. Group f/64 consisted of seven photographers from San Francisco: Ansel Adams, Imogene Cunningham, Edward Weston, William Van Dyke, Henry Swift, Sonya Noskowiak and John Paul Edwards. Their goal in the 1930's was to elevate photography to an art with the eye to modern esthetics and to exhibit the best contemporary photography of the West. In the mid-90's I belonged to SFSFP, San Francisco Society of Female Photographers, a group of around 15 women who would go out at night and shoot street photography. It was empowering to be a part of this creative group and empowering to be able to photograph on the harsh and often dangerous streets of San Francisco at night. Long exposures were our forte and although I'm not comparing us to Group f/64, we were certainly inspired by their passion.

I have always loved the work of Dorothea Lang, who photographed migrants in central California for the WPA projects. Along with her then husband Maynard Dixon (one of my all time favorite Western landscape painters), they lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area for many, many years. At 6 months old, I had the great honor (although I wasn't aware of it of course) to meet one of my all time favorite photographers Imogen Cunningham through a family friend and amazing artists Ruth Asawa. I grew up surrounded by women who created Art. It was the norm in the Bay Area. Creating Art through photography has been a joy as well as intellectual stimulation that keeps me wanting explore its boundaries and to share my passion with the world.

Vive la photograph!

Julie Pavlowski Green
June 22, 2013

Saturday, June 15, 2013

"Fleeting Perspectives: A Paper Ballet" Part 3




This week I set out to construct the sets for my Paper Ballet. I had sketched out ideas of what elements I wanted to incorporate and ended up with another balance of tension created between graphic designs and organic silhouettes. I had every intention of creating them in full scale, but as I began to construct the costumes, I realized that I was creating a huge hurdle for myself and promptly decided to bring them down to a manageable size. 

I have seen artists create sets for the opera by constructing boxes that housed their vision before it was taken full scale. I applied the same idea here, albeit with flimsier materials, and began to cut and paste in a very short time frame. I first started with a 10" x 10" cardboard box but soon realized it was going to be just too small for me to literally work inside of. The 16" x 16" box was just right. 


I cut the top out to allow light to flood the set so I could light it when it came time to photograph. As I began making the paper stages, I realized how indelible yet durable the Espon Inkjet Paper scraps were. On a smaller scale, the paper needed to be cut with a slower hand. Cutting quickly would show up as jagged snips here and zagged lines there.

The paper curl was hard to remove from the memory of the paper. I slightly creased the paper by curling it in the opposite direction which needed to be smoothed out. I soon learned that the wave in the paper was there to stay. I began to wonder whether or not I should have painted the cardboard white but decide to stick with the paper all the way through the project. The texture and tone of the paper matched the costumes.



"Don't be too precious with the materials" kept bubbling up into my mind as I begin to create the sets. This "manta" of sorts also came to mind while I was constructing the costumes. It actually helped me to get the job done quickly without being too fastidious over each and every line. Without tearing or ripping quickly through the paper, I gave my self the freedom to create in paper without the fear of making a mistake. This was a real gift I gave to myself. I have a feeling it is something I have learned from being a parent!



As I began to line the inside of the box with paper, I felt like I had stepped inside the world I was creating. I could feel the space, and I imagined what direction the light would be coming from. I began to imagine the dancers placed within the final sets behind them. A doll-sized world is charming and magical. I hope this charm and magic comes across in the final images. 

My facination with a world that doesn't exist continues to permeate my photography. Perhpas it is because I can create a world of make-believe and capture it on film, that I continue to do so. If I were to dream just a little bit bigger, I would love to see this ballet become a reality. Any choreographers, set builders, composers, dancers and costume designers interested? Please email me at julievox@sbclgobal.net



Last week I decided to paint my nails bright orange. As I was scoring the paper without a bone folder, my nails were leaving little trails of orange streaks all over the pristine white paper. I shrugged my shoulders and convince myself that this was part of the process and may eventually add something to it. I let go of my preconceived notions of how things should be and accept how they unfold. Overlapping paper to make coving in the corners happened by accident. With the walls, floor and ceiling complete, I moved on to cutting out the set elements. 

As I have mentioned, I decided to explore the tension between graphic and organic elements. As I began to sketch out my ideas, it seemed like a natural progression. Visually it had high impact and each piece provided the rudimentary symbolic characteristics I was looking for.



Balance and instability really seems to be the prevailing theme in this work. Or are they really one and the same? Chaos, when you finally work the process all the way to the end, is no long chaos. A circle. NOTE TO SELF: You can't cut a paper circle quickly!  Slowing down to cut the circle was so enjoyable, it was like a mini-vacation... 

I could feel the scissors cutting through the fibers and it brought me back to why I'm working with paper and a real feel for the medium I'm working in. Cutting out the waves got me thinking about positive and negative space created by the paper and how that might actually tie into Phase III of this project - the shadow. The outdoor early evening light was perfect to start observing and exploring the shadows the paper waves were casting on the inside of the paper set and I was inspired.



Each new set of elements brought a whole new vibe to the scenery. The circle and the waves evoked night time, like the moon over water. The square and the waves contained much more tension and was more abstract. More of what I am looking for.  More surreal, like a cube on the water or a room being flooded or taken over by waves, a la "Where the Wild Things Are".  Now on to the first frontispieceMaking the feathered frontispiece reminded me of the "bangs" I had made for the first ballerina costume. The organic feel and unevenness of the edge of the paper was soft and delicate.

Like leaves rustling in the breeze or looking through a natural window created by vegetation in the wilderness, the feathered frontispiece worked! I needed to make a frame to hold the paper to the front of the box, so I cut 1/2" strips off the flaps of the box and attached it to the back of the paper. 

In the end, I think the circle worked best with the frontispiece and the square with the waves...


It takes so much time to contemplate a plan of action, layout all your materials and then execute a project. A small time slot of 3 hours over a 2 day period (generously provided by my husband as he watched and entertained our little 3 year old girl) was a very tight time slot to accomplish what I setting out to do. Yet it was all I had .

But persistence paid off and I'm happy to say 4 out of the 8 sets I had drawn up were completed and ready to be photographed. I will need to carve out another 3 hours to complete the 4 other sets soon. Right now, I'm just happy to see that Phase II of the Paper Ballet has made it off the ground and is on its way to completion. 



If any thing, this project has taught me to continue to chip away at this self assigned creative persuit. For if I am not to push myself to complete this project, who will? This is the crux for all artists. I just hope that in the end I can look upon these images and know that I have worked out all the kinks that evolved out of the act of creating with paper.

Luckily I'm a fairly stubborn person and with perseverance and this blog to keep me on track, I'm sure this fairy tale of a Paper Ballet will come to life. Life itself is fleeting and I am thrilled to be able to share my perspective of it with you.


Julie Pavlowski Green
June 15, 2013

































Saturday, June 8, 2013

"Fleeting Perspectives: A Paper Ballet" Part 2




After much preparation, organization and scheduling, the first phase of the project took shape and a photo shoot with the dancers in costume was set. What better location than a dance studio used by the ballerina to stage the shoot! We all met at Suzie's Studio in San Rafael. I had driven up with a car so packed with paper portfolios, that I could barely see out the back window! The excitement of actually seeing this project take flight filled my heart with joy.

The two dancers for the project, Mymuna Demora and Grier Cooper, were there when we arrived already warming up. Coming from very different backgrounds in dance, one a classically trained ballerina - the other coming from the inspirations of the great 20th century modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham, I had a feeling the tension created by these varying approaches to dance would further my exploration of balance and instability within the image. They did not disappoint! The talented Gwen Allen documented the day.


Phase I is now complete!  Here is a small selection of the resulting posses captured that day. Now to build the sets and drop these dancers into them... With scissors in hand, I am beginning the process today, eager to see this project completed by the end of the summer and hopefully land an exhibition of these images here in Los Angeles by the end of the year!




I asked all participants about their history in dance and art, as well as their experience on the set of "Fleeting Perspectives: A Paper Ballet":


I was trained in classical ballet, beginning at age 5. I trained at the School of American Ballet in NYC and San Francisco Ballet School. Never before had I performed in paper costumes of any sort. 

As far as experience on set, it was an elaborate process to prepare for each shot. Getting dressed took up the most time since each costume had many pieces and we had to be very careful getting in and out of them (so they didn't tear and no one suffered paper cuts!) Once we were dressed I felt disoriented at times (esp in the costume where only my mouth was visible and I had to balance multiple pieces). Movement was very different than in other types of costumes – paper limits the range of movement, of course. 


But it's also lightweight and has such an incredible range of applications from pleated tutus to Guiness-world-record-length nails. I felt very doll-like while working in the costumes; generally the lines of my body were more angular because of the rigidity of the paper. Such a fun project and a cool idea to repurpose art materials that would otherwise have gone to waste. 

(Grier is a California based writer, photographer, and dancer who has performed worldwide with the San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet.)



MYMUNA DAMORA:

Martha Graham, one of the original inventors of Modern Dance, is my namesake. My birth name is Martha which I go by in some circles. Early in life I was forced into tap and jazz vis the lineage of sister dancers in my family. Later in life I studied Tia Chi with chinese masters and became a certified teacher of the "Internal martial arts." Thats right, teacher of the world on this inside. 

After I realized I was too much of a handful for the male masters, I turned toward tribal fusion belly dance with some great female teachers who wielded that forbidden sex power! In general I mostly took a class here and there and would teach myself. I am a self taught pole dancer as well and quickly earned the title of "shaman pole dancer" ! Ariel dance became a portal for my spiritual world and dancer theatrical self the freedom to combine.


I give all credit to my spiritual journey and awakening to the true nature of myself. From this awareness  there is only movement which I have developed a sense of mastery on many levels. Dance is the sum total of the wonderment of nature/elementals expressing themselves through the form. Its never-ending, Always a beginning, the road is ongoing.

I have never danced in paper. My whole identity, if ever there was one, was gone baby gone in the paper costumes, I loved it!  The quintessential experience for the mystical dancer.




MIKE KABLER:

I am a paper collage artist who has received no formal training. I began making collages in high school after viewing a book at the library about Soviet propaganda posters. I immediately made a connection between the Dada style of the posters (cut and paste, reengineering of images) to that of punk band flyers and record covers. At this time I also discovered famed punk collage artist, Winston Smith, who did much of the early Dead Kennedy's print material. I have had several solo and group show, and most recently, been published in Next Door Magazine, a publication out of NYC. 








This photo shoot was brought to life with the help of some very creative people. They saw my vision and ran with it. It is so important to collaborate and work with similar minded creatives. Like a real ballet, with a multitude of artists working towards creating a cohesive whole, our humble Paper Ballet was born. 


Julie Pavlowski Green
June 8, 2013