Invisible Monsters Illustration

I stumbled upon one of my older illustrations recently. It's an interesting process to evaluate your own art and see how your art practice (and personal art history) has evolved. This is a scan from an old sketchbook.


"If I can't be beautiful, I want to be invisible."
- Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

Illustration by Minhae Shim (2009/2010)

R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman

I was very saddened to hear that Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away today. He had been on our minds recently and we were shocked to hear the news. I began painting a mixed-media portrait of him a couple months ago and recently finished the piece (Danny and I had been finishing the digital prints for the last week). My colleagues and I had been in touch with his publicist in January about possibly writing for The Independent's film distribution book. And, we had recently just watched the Her spoof with Philip Seymour Hoffman's voice.

He was a fantastic artist, who made us laugh, cry, sometimes cringe and, above all, helped appreciate the art of indie film. We truly loved seeing his performances up on the big screen. R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman: we wish you had been able to see this portrait, which we hope is a tribute to you and your legacy. 

The Motherhood Archives on Women Make Movies

The Motherhood Archives, a documentary by Irene Lusztig is a project that looks at histories of childbirth in the 20th century using an extensive archive of maternal educational films from 1919 to present day. The film explores ideologies and cinematic discourses of childbirth and motherhood.

I wrote about Irene and The Motherhood Archives when it screened the Cliffe Connections film series at the Schlesinger Library in September. I had the honor of working on this film while Irene was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and I am now working on the project in the distribution stage.

Here is the trailer:



The film is being distributed by Women Make Movies, and is now available on their website on DVD. See their website for more information about purchasing/renting the film. 

This experimental, exploratory documentary about motherhood and childbirth is unusual and beautiful, and was created using a breadth of archival footage from Schlesinger Library. For more information, see the film's website, check out Irene's interview for The New Inquiry, or find The Motherhood Archives on Facebook.