Kam Mak, who grew up in Chinatown just three blocks from RGA, today visited the lower school to share his autobiographical book, "My Chinatown: A Year in Poems." He told the group that it took two and a half painstaking years to create, and a month or more to complete each of the elaborately detailed, hyper-real oil paintings. He began the process with visual memories, he explained, and the words followed. He brought with him a traditional two-person lion costume, which several pairs of children tried on, to gamely help ward off evil spirits. Kam discussed what an editor is, and the pivotal role his played in helping give his book shape. He pointed out various personal details, like the different family members pictured in his book (including his mom, dad, daughter, nephew), and the beloved game of Chinese chess (Xiangqi) in one of the images—a game he sorely missed after it stayed behind in Hong Kong when his family moved to New York. He then described his fond discovery years later of an identical set, in a shop on Mott Street, which he showed to the class. For their part, the kids had many, many imaginative questions and observations for the author/artist. (Please read earlier posts for more information on Kam Mak.)
(A huge thanks, Kam, for the visit!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment