KCHUNG Girl Talk

screen grab from soyoung's tumblr x

This afternoon @ 3pm! The rad Ms. Soyoung Shin & yours truly will be having a bit of a chat. We'll be talking about L.A. Zine Fest. I'll be tabling as "your friend, ava" for the second time, so come see me! Soyoung will be there with me as well. It's going to be a beautiful day. 

Other subjects on our agenda : Boys Men & dating, favorite artists/photographers, film versus digital?, L.A. Art Book Fair finds, and so much more. We'll also be playing some music for you. Thanks for tuning in, friends! xx

Find us here or here

coming soon...

Shop first edition zines - limited quantities 

along the coast  © Ava Alamshah / $15

for inquiries, email me at yourfriendava@gmail.com

Girls on Film

Thank you to Girls on Film for featuring my work. You can see more photos from this series by clicking here…

Sunday Mornings At The River

This was the last day of the "epic" rain storm in Los Angeles. I love grey days. x

Sunday Mornings was founded by the lovely Rebecca Rijsdijk and Sanne Poppeliers. They are a tiny publishing house in the Netherlands and focus on curating shows, creating beautiful photography zines, making awesome totes (look how stoked I am holding my brand new Sunday Mornings tote!!!), & they even make fun stickers! Rebecca & I are Facebook friends & even though we don't know each other in person, she has been the most gracious/inspiring human being. I absolutely love her work. Her photographs are very free - like a dream. They evoke a feeling of escape and longing for exploration. Dropping everything to see the beauty that surrounds us. I think it's time for a road trip!

I found out about Sunday Mornings while at Lili Cuzor's Kokedama workshop for Book Stand's pop up (almost a year ago today). It was at The Standard in Hollywood. Fun night, and my plant is still going strong & sprouting new leaves! Angie took some photos that evening. Check them out here.

xoxo

your friend,

ava

L.A. Zine Fest, 2014!

My zines and some personal treasures. Cameras & plant life -the plant to the left was a gift from Angie. The rock, I collected from the center of the Spiral Jetty. Every time I look at it, I think about past road trips & land art. Nancy Holt passed away a couple of weeks ago, so all this has been on my mind. I'll never forget the peace I had while laying in the middle of one of her epic Sun Tunnels. Glimpses of light shining through a carved out circle. And the Utah desert… 

April Wolfe, my Mom, & your's truly. Proud to be a part of the zine community. x

Hey! That's me wedged in between Zach! (his friend, April, filling in for him) & Laura of Fluxus LA! Rad women. It was a pleasure getting to know them. 

homies (I was overjoyed with the enormous amount of support I received from friends and family-I feel very lucky)

I can't tell you enough how much I learned and how happy I was to share my work with others. L.A Zine Fest was such a beautiful experience and I met so many rad & talented people that day. Thank you to everyone who came to support and all the vendors who are putting their work out there. Truly inspiring. Can't wait to do it again next year! 

your friend,

ava

…coming back from a long weekend

My experience at this year's LA Zine Fest was extremely amazing. I want to write about it and all the wonderful people I met, but I need to decompress for a day or two (I am exhausted). To all my friends & family who showed their support, I want to thank you. I feel very lucky to have such beautiful, talented, and kind people in my life. True gems. 

Until my next entry, I thought I'd share some photos I took of my neighborhood, Historic Filipino Town & Echo Park proper. x

all images © Ava Alamshah

your friend,

ava

L.A. Zine Fest

S N E A K   P E A K 

Here is a sneak peak of what I'll be selling at this year's L.A. Zine Fest! It is my first year participating and I couldn't be happier. I have nervous knots…the anticipation, along with my tendency to be a complete perfectionist. I am kind of freaking out, friends! Oh, man…..Freaking Out!!! 

For more info / my interview

I cannot wait to meet other artists/zine makers. On Sunday, February 16th, after checking out my booth (wink wink), I really recommend this panel discussion on turning your zine practice into full on publishing ventures. I wish I could go, but I'll be manning my booth. So many cool people will be discussing this topic-Esther Pearl Watson, & Kevin Staniec to name a couple. 

I had the pleasure of submitting some polaroids to Kevin for this book. It's beautiful. Stefani's work is also featured. There was also a huge one night only polaroid exhibit at Bergamot Station about four years ago, that Kevin organized. Great guy.

So many cool things in the works. Can't wait to tell you all about them. It's all very humbling. 

your friend,

ava

Was She Pretty?

This is the cover of Leanne Shapton's Was She Pretty?  A book about current loves and curiosities about their ex lovers.  I could not stop turning the pages.  Each one spoke about the insecurities, jealousy, and the wonder that enters a new relationship and those thoughts about your partner's exes.  Why didn't it work out? Comparing oneself to the former lover, and in a way, admiring them at the same time.  Would we be friends?  We clearly have the same taste in men/women.

It also touches upon connections and that cycle that happens when you find love, lose love, and then find love all over again.  Sometimes it lasts for a long time, and sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes it's all about timing.

I stumbled upon Leanne's book through my new favorite site, BOOK STAND.  If you love books, especially artist made with a personal touch, handmade zines, beautiful/dreamy picture books to fill your shelves....then this is the perfect little site to fulfill your internet library fantasy come true!  The lovely Claire Cottrell founded BOOK STAND and she'll be at the LA ART BOOK FAIR tomorrow evening!  Here is an interview with Claire that I found on the Madewell blog. 

All work above © Leanne Shapton

It's very cathartic to skim the pages now on the eve of my breakup.  Life is full of bittersweet experiences, and I have to thank my former boyfriend for introducing me to the blog world.  Without him, I wouldn't be writing about my dreams and interests.  The funny thing about relationships is that they stay with you.  All the amazing times, the bad, the awkward, the disappointments/sorrows, and all the love and loss.  It is part of our every day lives and sometimes we grow and sometimes we don't, but it's all about the experience. 

your friend,

ava

Nail Party

!  O O G A    B O O G A  !

 

  Hi friends!  

  Here are the photos I promised to you from this post.  Pretty sweet times at Nail Party 2012!

  Tea at Intelligentsia.  The tea was delicious (and expensive).  Still not sure what all the fuss is about.  I was just happy to be with my friend.

B E F O R E

A F T E R

© 2012 Ava Alamshah

your friend,

ava

Ooga Booga/Madeline Poole

  Last night, I got to hang out with my pal Sasha of The Holy Nail.  It was so lovely to see her and get to hang out for realsies.  It is so nice when the stars align, and I really cherish those moments because they only happen every so often.  Being an adult is hard.

  

  So back to the evening...

  When I saw that Ooga Booga opened up another pop up, and that Madeline Poole was doing nails, I knew Sasha and I would have to be there!  I've always loved having my nails painted and I have such respect and admiration for women who can keep up the classic look 24/7.  I also love that it has become such an art form and yet another way to express yourself.  

  So I guess Madeline Poole is a big deal in the nail scene and I've been kind of out of the loop, but she is very friendly/down to earth person and makes nails look like jewelry.  It's unbelievable what she can do. I cannot wait to show you photos of her handiwork, and of the event.  If I didn't already end up spending a ton of money on mix tapes, a zine, and a gift, I would have picked up the book in that image above.  There was a short reading of it during the festivities, and it sounded really smart and funny.  Stuff about cults, stealing small items, and friendship....SOLD. 

your friend,

ava

Ooga Booga

  One of my all time favorite stores, Ooga Booga, has a pop up shop in San Francisco that will be ending it's run in the next two weeks!  If you are in town, I suggest you head on over to grab some zines and some records.  November 30th is the last day.  The location is at the Kadist Art Foundation on the corner of 20th and Folsom.

  I first heard about Ooga Booga about six or seven years ago from an article in Nylon Magazine, about the owner, Wendy Yao.  HERE is an article from 2007, about Wendy, her amazing space, and what influenced her to start her business.  Some more recent articles from KCET here and here.  I am happy that I've gotten to meet Wendy and volunteer a couple of times at her shop.  Really glad that her store exists.

 R I O

Mike Kelley's Destroy All Monsters.  RIP

  The shop in San Francisco was great.  I loved the polka dots in the windows.  I happened to be wearing a polka dot dress that day, too.  It's such a happy design.  It felt nice to be the only ones in the store for a while.  We could just hang out and gaze at all the art and zines.  The plant, in the image below, gave me such fuzzy feelings.  Everything is a visual feast, from the potted plant, to the different colored books and zines laying on the wooden surface, to the beautifully woven rug underneath....M A G I C.

Underneath it reads:  Chris Johanson & Jo Jackson, Sic Alps/Awesome, Vistas print, $200

Fruits and Nuts by Laura Owens

your friend,

ava

Images © 2012 Ava Alamshah

The Freaks Come Out At Night

  Last night I had the pleasure of attending Freak Scene at Synchronicity Space.   If you love underground comix, I suggest checking it out.  It will be up until August 4th. 

  Down below are some post cards I collected at the show.  Drippy Bone Books is amazing.  They had merchandise up the wazoo.  Tote bags (I bought one), t-shirts, beer jackets (yep), and a zine produced specifically for the show (got that, too).  The tote bags and the Freak Zine post card is designed by Benjamin Marra.  You can get a better look at his print on the Sync Space website.  He also painted this huge image on the back wall, and you can see it as you walk into the gallery.  Johnny Ryan is also featured in the show, but not in the zine (bummer).  Jeaux had shown me some of his work, and I'm not sure the exact time I was introduced to Ryan's crude drawings.  It might have been in San Francisco, around 2007.  I remember hanging out with Rio, he had just bought this comic, and we sat down to read it in this tiny cafe, across from the Castro theater.   All the pages were about some dog having sex with this guy and squirting cum all over the guys face, with references to the KKK as Ku Klux Kummers, and it was the most fowl thing, which made it hysterical, and I couldn't stop laughing (that kind of laughter where it's side splitting).  The barista asked us what we were reading because our laughter was INSANE.  I think she wanted to be a part of it, but Rio was too embarrassed (or ashamed) to show her how perverse we were.  I mean, how sick, right?  This might be THE ONE after a google search for ku klux kum.  I almost ran into real Ku Klux Klan sites by searching this way!  YUCK.

   

   I also got to meet Tom Neely, who I'm not too familiar with yet, but I picked up the graphic novel created with his gang, Igloo Tornado, "Henry & Glenn Forever", which was begging me to purchase it.  I mean, how perfect.......Danzig and Rollins in a passionate romance?!!   Neely mentioned that it was like peanut butter and chocolate.  Pretty much sums it up.  I feel like I have seen his work before, and I probably have, but cannot remember when or where.  It's vague. 

  Signed above with a hybrid Danzig/Black Flag skull. YES.  Tom also likes my Nara tattoo.  He's pretty rad.

 

  This photo needs no explanation.  It's just excellent. 

  If you head out to Sync Space tonight, there will be live readings starting at 8pm!  Live readings, music, and the contributors will be signing their comix afterwards!  Wish I could go, but I work late tonight. Pour one out for me.


your friend,

ava