Kristen Fissell

we moved to San Francisco, I got a new job, and I’ve done some art

 Hello!!! It has been a hot second since I’ve updated my website and figured I was long overdue. I have some art goals I would like to achieve in this coming year and I’ve taken part in some neat art-related things already since we moved to the west coast.

we moved to California from Rhode Island

From May to June 2023 Zach and I drove across the country TWICE! Once was an adventure route sans cat that took us through the southwest (we saw the Grand Canyon for the first time) and the other was bringing Sylvester out in the second vehicle. We landed at our new apartment in Potrero Hill, San Francisco in mid-June and we are LOVING this location. There is so much to do in this city and we love our neighbors. We are so lucky to have a lot of space in our apartment and a beautiful backyard garden we sit out in often.

I started a new job (well really two new jobs)

Before we moved to SF, I was researching and applying to art-related jobs all of March and April. My first job I accepted was as a Visitor Experience Associate at the de Young Museum which is one of two locations for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. After working there for six weeks, I realized that position wasn’t a great fit for me. Around this same time, I received an email about an opening as an art preparator at the Asian Art Museum. I did the interview and got the job. The timing was impeccable because I started just as we began installing for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an exhibition for Takashi Murakami!

I helped install Takashi Murakami: Unfamiliar People — Swelling of Monsterized Human Ego

Takashi Murakami (b. 1962) is a contemporary Japanese artist. He is internationally recognized in fine arts and commercial media whose influence extends to fashion, consumer products, and entertainment. For Monsterized, Takashi Murakami showcases a dazzling array of paintings, sculptures, designs and installations (such as his smiling flowers). One painting titled Judgement Day, is brand new for this show and is 82 feet long, comprised of 25 panels! There are also NFT artworks, a sculpture cast entirely of silver, and flower wallpaper design comprised of over 10,000 different flowers. Takashi Murakami is the founder of his production company KaiKai Kiki. Using translators, we worked with over 20 different members of the KaiKai Kiki team, many of them who flew over from Japan a month early to begin the install.

On my first day working for the Asian Art Museum, I was assigned with two other people to assist Fumito Kobayashi, the master vinyl wallpaper installer. I later learned that Fumito is the best in Japan at what he does, and has been the only person Takashi Murakami will have install his vinyl works. I volunteered to be the person to hop up onto the scaffolding and hold the first wallpaper panel as Fumito skillfully applied it. It quickly became apparent he only needed one helper, and for the next three weeks straight, we worked together as a team to apply over 50 wall panels, 23 floor panels, and linoleum flooring for the floor panels.

Getting to be such an integral part of this exhibition and working alongside Fumito was extremely special to me. Fumito’s English was limited and I knew no Japanese. Over the three weeks we worked together I tried my best to learn some Japanese phrases and to observe closely to anticipate what we were doing next or what tool was needed. We did sometimes use a translator and Google Translate, but much was said and understood with only a few words. We also shared much with each other about our cultures, language, food, families, and pictures of our cats (Fumito has two cats, Choco and Moogie!). I was deeply honored to be able to learn so much from Fumito as well as meet and work with the additional folks from the KaiKai Kiki team.

I did also get to see the artist, Takashi Murakami! The artist visited a handful of times to approve art placement, do final checks, and give a staff tour. I was able to be a part of the staff tour and hear about the thoughts and processes of notable works in the show.

For more information about the exhibition, here is a link to a SF Chronicle article with Takashi Murakami posing in front of his flower wallpapers I helped install!

I am working on some art!

I have many ideas bouncing around in my head…I am continually inspired by the art I see in museums but also what is around me. I am really enjoying San Francisco architecture, west coast marine life, and the people I am meeting. I’ve done some color washes of houses and street scenes, and made some first drafts of a couple of series I want to do. One will be my “Tortoise Series” with San Francisco hills on tortoise’s backs. Another is my “Salesfish Series” where the tallest tower in SF (Salesforce Tower) is made into all kinds of fish. I would like to make some sculptures with mixed media, and apply to get my work shown in galleries here. I am attempting to incorporate more play, vibrant colors, and unusual combinations to my work. I am excited to see what’s next. Thanks for reading and supporting! “Arigatogozaimasu”! (Japanese Thank You!)