Last week one of my friends told me about a new bubble tea shop, iTea Lounge, that just opened up nearby. Previously, I would drive about half an hour to get boba and remind myself of China—now I only have to go about eight minutes. Anyway, a friend and I stopped by and had some milk tea and started talking to the owners about their new shop.
The walls were painted colorfully but it was kind of barren except for a few sparse paintings spread across the store. They asked our opinion and we both mentioned having more art on the walls would help liven things up and give the store a more energetic feel. Probably pretty easy to see where this is going…especially if you read the title of the blog post.
I wanted to display some really bright and colorful photos from Asia so I mostly selected some from Bangkok, from my series dealing with visual over-stimulation. Those photos are hung near the entrance to give a vibrant, exciting feeling to people just walking in. Many of the photos are environmental portraits of people in markets or food stalls, which feel very engaging. In a corner tucked away in the back there are some ambient nature photos from the autumn and winter and spring eternal series. The little nook is more of a calm place so the nature photos fit great there.
I’m really excited to have more work on display in a local business, especially some of my work from Asia being displayed in a culturally-Asian store. I hope everybody nearby can get the chance to stop by and grab a drink, support the store and check out some my work!! I will post some images here as soon as I revisit with my camera handy!