My friend’s parents allowed me to have this pig as my pet. After some thought, I decided to name it Rougene 🙂
Simple Living at Rambouillet, France
Tag / france
Egon Schiele, Louis Vuitton Fondation
Seen on October 3, 2018, opening day.
Untamed: Jean-Michel Basquiat at Fondation Louis Vuitton
Dos Cabezas, 1982 – Acrylic and stick on canvas mounted on wood supports – private collection
Grillo, 1984 – Acrylic, oil, paper collage, oil stick, and nails on wood – Fondation Louis Vuitton
Florence, 1983 – Acrylic and oil stick on canvas – private collection
Untitled, around 1984-85 – acrylic and paper collage on paper glued onto honeycomb board – private collection
Hollywood Africans in Front of the Chinese Theater with Footprints of Movie Stars, 1983 – acrylic and oil stick on canvas mounted on wood supports – estate of jean-michel basquiat
Slave Auction, 1982 – Crumpled paper collage, oil stick and acrylic on canvas – Centre Pompidou, Paris
Untitled (BlueAirplane), 1981 – Acrylic, spray paint, and oil stick on canvas – Collection Stephanie Seymour Brant
Paris Days_Monday
Today’s a day with my toes freezing cold.
I dressed too light for Paris.
Per usual, I’m told.
My mind filled with tasks, and deadlines, and work.
But reminded, for why am I here?/ to rest my soul, alas!
Palais de Tokyo, August 3, 2018
Musings & Tucans in Le Marais
I am sitting in a very pretty coffee shop called the Yellow Tucan.
The cafe owner decorates the cafe with bright spots of yellow: oranges, tulips, architectural chairs, and truly brightens up the spirits of anyone stopping in.
It’s been 4 days since I’ve arrived in Paris.
Outside of my meetings for work I’ve committing to a practice of solitude as that’s what I have been looking for as I chose to take this trip– to recalibrate and deepen my focus.
After a sprint of work here and finishing this letter, I will go out to meet a friend, Pierre, to do what’s perhaps some much needed socializing. We will be going to the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature. It will be my first time, and I am so very excited to go as I know the decorative art pieces there are splendid!
It hasn’t been difficult at all to find new friends here. There have been the hiccups of having to ward off men though. …on runs, during walks between meetings. But it’s nothing.
Work is going very well, although I’m shy to share with you the details of the project I have been working on just yet. It takes a lot of preparation, a lot of risk, and sharing sometimes feels scary because it feels like I am putting all my eggs in one basket, when I myself am not absolutely sure where this heading. But this I think is the scared me talking. 🙂
Things are moving very quickly forward though. It’s enough to excite me and frighten me simultaneously.
I hope I have the courage to continue on.  And if not, I hope I have the courage to take up something new again. To persevere, and also to be brazen when acting for the good things– the worthy things.
Arming myself for the days ahead.
Love,
Soo
Mom & I: South of France
We both love France so much.
It’s quite funny actually– like mother like daughter they say 🙂
We arrived at our intense loves for French culture independently, really.
My mom as a high schooler loved studying French and French culture. She said it was due to an inspirational and charismatic teacher. She loved the language so much she got her Bachelor’s in French and if not for the conservative times in South Korea in the 80s and the social demands of her family, she tells me she would have moved to France right after university. At the time, her father, my grandfather, particularly was adamantly against the idea.
I too, loved France since I was a kid. In middle school, I picked up French as an elective, and I ended up really enjoying it. I was “christened” Juliette– a name I was head over heels with. “So pretty!” I thought. Entranced first by the beauty of the language, as I grew older, I quickly ended up being in love with everything else as I was exposed to other elements of French culture: the food, the cultural practices, the entertainment, the people’s way of living. I even booked a flight to France right after I graduated NYU, and had paid the deposit for a studio and the tuition for a 6 mo. program at La Sorbonne haha– so bent was I on moving there and figuring out a way to get a visa… a job… and a life in a place that seemed so much like home. None of these things ever ended up happening. Different circumstances, along with different decisions come into play, along with different people… and life goes on.
We are so grateful whenever we are able to come back to this country that has left such an inexplainable and cosmic mark on our souls and spirits.
I’m sad that my mom is leaving today.
Our vacation to the south of France is our first mother daughter solo trip since maybe… 2016? I think I should do this more often. It’s been such a blessing getting to know her more deeply this past week not just as my mother, but as a fellow woman and peer.
TO DO: Hog my mom from J and J.
How loved am I.
Jean Jullien and the Allure of Abstraction
Sometimes, I like to see art because of the intrinsic beauty found in its execution of artistic virtues such as meticulous detailing or loyalty to realism, and other times, I appreciate the way it expands the boundaries of my capabilities for imagination.
In the name of art of the latter form, see here a short film:
The Coward – Statues, explores moral permissiveness and embarks on an abstract discourse on primitive attraction– the beauties or rather, curiosities involved in all that’s mating, lust, love, and sex.
Directed by the estimable illustrator, Jean Jullien, and his brother, Nicolas Jullien.
*not for the monastic hearted*
Freaky, maybe. Questionable, yes. Beautiful, too.
I appreciate a man with a great imagination.
Check out some of Jean’s saleable works here!
Bises,
Soo
Letters by Soo 