"Rat Fest" Online Gallery



"The Book of Zero Series" April 2004

"Mapping of Memory" September 2001

"Inside the Lotus Seed" April 1999

"Rat Fest: an Art Installation" October 1998

"The Art of the New Generation" September 1997

"Alienation Series" April 1995

"The Stanford Series: Drawings" September 1992

"Reflections of Things at Hand II and III" April 1991

"Rat Fest: an Art Installation"
Michael Himovitz Gallery, Sacramento, CA.
October 1998

Many people starved to death in the place I lived in 1961. I survived because a rat offered me his flesh. I am in debt to this Rat. The title of this show, "The Rat Fest," is a reference to the motive of this body of work. It is a celebration of sorts of a fundamental struggle for existence, which requires food for both body and mind. And the possibility that sometimes we may not get to choose the entrée we might prefer.

This body of work has no beginning and no ending. These works are a moment to reveal the gestalt of the physical process and layers of thoughts that go along with it. I feel it is necessary to reveal the process of the making. This process symbolizes the physical and metaphorical aspects of the work.

My primary visual image is a rice bowl, daily newspapers, both in English and Chinese and the daily Calligraphy practice on recycled papers. The final product was established by using layers of visual elements and the manipulation of materials. Both images and gestures of construction are equally important to the work.

Brenda Louie
October 1998