The Road to Minimalism /  by Mirena Rhee

Some time ago I went to Japan and had near nirvana on the tatami floor in the middle of July in Arashyama, in Kyoto, looking out to one of the famous Zen gardens. I wrote a book of poems and photographs of my experience. Since then I left my 6 figure job, moved to New York city and took on a systematic journey of getting rid of my possessions.

Minimalism allowed me to focus on making artwork that I can share with many people and literally the entire city but which requires much time and energy. I made an interesting observation that a lot of my wealthy friends in the Bay Area had no contact with many people because they used the walls of their homes and their estates as the barrier to entry for strangers.

Moving and getting rid of my stuff, my art became very people centric, and I became very people centric as my possessions no longer were central to my human experience. I make installations in central park which can be enjoyed by both homeless people and wealthy uptown people, and we can discourse together literally on the sidewalk.

The art is resource and brain power intensive and includes planning and logistics. I also draw, paint and make animations. I do not have any time for domestics like cooking, cleaning and running a home. All my possessions are currently tools of my trade and art/materials, of course clothes;), haha well, not gonna run around in a loincloth, own of course a few simple and favorite things like Tchotchke, utensils and books. I made a project/ a visual list which reflected on all the mass of things I donated and sold, including my car ( which used to be my favorite possession ) and furniture. This has made moving and traveling easy, and there's a lot of room in my consciousness to simply indulge in thinking and daydreaming about subjects and projects, which I enjoy.

The Third Edition of my Book – 102 Lessons in Art, Life and Video Games is now available on Amazon /  by Mirena Rhee

Why 102? – the book is not 101, and there are infinite numbers between 101 and 102…

The third edition of my book which started long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I created it more as a comic book rather than a reflowable document that you have to read, a fun thing with a few serious pages in between. A tale of several covers, and several titles.

Mirena Rhee was a Star Wars artist, 15 year veteran of the Video Games industry, and created video game art for blockbuster franchises like Iron Man Shrek, and X-Men. She was a well-regarded video game artist in the Silicon Valley and at Lucasfilm when she decided to leave her six-figure salary and job in paradise to commit to creating art for the betterment of humankind full-time.

In this motivational, sometimes irreverent and funny, and tongue-in-cheek collection Mirena Rhee addresses diverse subjects like how to dream, how to get a job in video games, best practices in creating art for video games, notes on productivity, and sharpening one’s artistic creativity. What is a video game, what does a video game artist do, how to create great games, how to think of the big picture. The second half of the book is filled with personal insights on living a life as an artist and her philosophy for a human-centered artistic practice.

Click below for high-resolution image of the cover:

102 Lessons in Art, Life and Video Games

This book began a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. This is the third and greatly improved edition which I will keep improving and polishing with things whenever I can.

It is also epic,  with over 100 pictures and chapters and lessons you will never forget.

I did not have enough cat pictures to illustrate the book properly so I am using instead screenshots of actual Video Game levels I worked on, glitches, photographs I took, boring documents I wrote and some frivolously Photoshopped memes which you can luckily skip –just swipe left! I never use images or levels I haven’t worked on myself.

Despite the lack of enough cat pictures, the book contains useful things that you can immediately use in your workflow – Tips and Tricks and Best Practices for how to develop great Video Games, and how to get the most of your creative drive. Hard core stuff like Asset Spec Sheet templates. The Video Game Playbook gives you play-by-play on what you need to do to get your game done, as well as ideas on what to do before, during and after making your game.

Some chapters I devoted to my personal understanding of Video Games and Digital Entertainment, my experiences as a Video Game Artist and how I tackled hard stuff.

The later chapters are very personal, some are lessons from my Star Wars afterlife as an artist and creator of many things, including photography, drawings, paintings, installations, animations and performance art. Some chapters towards the end contain my very own special productivity hacks which may surprise you. Don’t throw your Kindle!

I developed this book as a comic book because the pictures are as important as the words. What is amazing about digital books is that you can always make them better – their printing press is very light – just a button and the efforts of the Author.

If the universe is indeed a simulation it is probably the best video game ever. I am sure aliens fall off their chairs giggling whenever one of us falls through the world. There’s nothing you can do about it.

But there’s something you can do to play it the best you can, and I think being an artist, a creator, is the most fun way to do it. Just make sure not to fall through the cracks. Remember that The Game of Life is the best and most important video game you will ever play.

One of the best things that happened in my life was working on Star Wars. One of the greatest things that happened in my life was leaving Star Wars and finding my own Force.

Why I do art and what it means to me. /  by Mirena Rhee

Why I do art and what it means to me.

Art is the greatest invention of humankind, there's art created in caves 30,000 years ago that still fascinates us.

When I get up in the morning I think about the art I'm going to make, the art I have made or art from other artists, known and unknown, Titans or craftsmen from 200 or 2000 years ago.

I create non-commercial art and public art, meaning I do not charge tickets, I do not ask for tips, and do not participate in vanity shows for pay per view, or pay for visitors or likes on social media.

Money to me is not important because in the history of humankind very few purely monetary enterprises have contributed significantly to humankind, historically money have supported art but it was the work the hands and minds of artists and thinkers throughout the centuries that created human culture.

I wanted to tell you this one little story, imagine a friend gives you a gift that you really like, and he says this is for you from me and you say oh this is amazing I'm so honored I love it and it's beautiful thank you for your gift. And then your friend says sure you're welcome it's going to be $200. Would you feel the same way?

This is why whenever I create I first think of it as the art being a gift to humankind, and then when I create a drawing or a painting or whatever other work that appeals to people and they want to purchase then I would gladly sell it.

I don't remember an instance where people haven't liked my drawings or painting.

I employ pretty specific techniques for my drawings and paintings because I want them to have the kind of quality that could still hold up after 200 or 500 years and the ideas embedded I want to be still relevant to any human looking at them many years after I'm gone.

And this is the reason I do not create art that is only relevant to political or social purposes of the time, the only social and political purpose in my mind is the advancement of humankind where each human being contributes their full talent to the betterment of humankind.

They're a lot of people who are talented with money and I respect and appreciate that.

They're a lot of people who are talented with words or stories and I respect and appreciate that.

I feel an inner need to create and an inner drive to create certain things that have been on my mind. I usually work on many ideas in my mind while I walk travel or do other tasks.

I frequently work on my art without actually touching it, I constantly think write or contemplate past current or future projects and develop them in my head before they head out to the street or the canvas.

I think of improbable impossible or absolutely outrageous things which gradually in my head become more reachable so it is possible that through gradual improvements even an impossible work of art could be made.

I sometimes think of what could be made on the Moon or Mars and what possible robotic instruments could help with such works of art. Would it be a simple drawing in the sand or spider webs drawn between Moons or Planets.

I do not discard any thought as ridiculous on the contrary I think especially ridiculous thoughts are really worth it of contemplation.

So what is it that I wanted to say with this long long letter - I wanted to say that writing and thinking of all these ideas and projects is as valid activity as physically creating and manipulating them and setting them in an environment.

This is why I often write in my diary I make sketches I put notes on my phone and my computer about past present or future work.

Often little seemingly unobtrusive actions create the web of support for future work, and then all the threads eventually coalesce into the material expression of what once was just a thought.

The Artist with Reflections /  by Mirena Rhee

Mirena Rhee, the artist who created Giant Hands series of installations and Reflections installation in Central Park with her colorful and visionary art.

Mirena Rhee with her installation Reflections in Central Park

Photo credit by Christine Lazzara @justachristine

The trees make hieroglyphs in the sky with their branches. Reflections - Hieroglyphs at The Point /  by Mirena Rhee

The trees make hieroglyphs in the sky with their branches Reflections - Hieroglyphs at The Point

Reflections - Hieroglyphs at The PointInstallation with 36 Giant Hands in Central Park, 2021A series of Installations in Central Park Created over the Easter Weekend as a culmination of a series of installation around the park called Remember Summer…

Reflections - Hieroglyphs at The Point

Installation with 36 Giant Hands in Central Park, 2021

A series of Installations in Central Park Created over the Easter Weekend as a culmination of a series of installation around the park called Remember Summer with 36 Hand Painted Giant Hands.

This installation - Reflections - Hieroglyphs at The Point - is of course random on the very surface, the hands are randomly placed but a result of a long time of observation and working on ideas about the space in Central Park and especially the forms, the shapes of the trees, the colors of Earth and bark.

The Old Masters colors of the park ambushed with the sharp burst of Color in Acrylic Paint. It’s a bit chemical burst, but as natural as the wavelengths of light are natural.


Just like randomness in the shapes of the trees and branches is only on the surface but follows an inner logic of growth and reach up to ultraviolet light, so is my installation a natural progression of many years of study as well as spontaneous work with the environment to create an ephemeral work, a temporary pigment, a visual language for one afternoon. I call it an ephemeral sign language.

Hieroglyphs made out of painted hands.

Squiggles, and Graffiti. Reflected in the water.

They say Light
doesn’t travel
but ripples,
and doubles the World.
It makes us all,
humans and trees,
tremble a little.

Reflections, An installation I created for Easter Sunday in the Rambles area of Central Park made out of 36 hand-painted Giant Hands each measuring over 12 ft, and Red Cloth. /  by Mirena Rhee

Reflections, an installation I created for Easter Sunday in the Rambles area of Central Park made out of 36 hand-painted Giant Hands each measuring over 12 ft, and Red Cloth.

The Installation was a culmination of a series of Installations around the park created in response to the Old Masters Painting colors of the Park in early Spring, the color scheme and the Red cloth are homage to Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

Hundreds of people came to see it and it was a success.

The Installation was not endorsed by Central Park but I hope to work with permission in the future.

Happy Easter and Passover! Giant Hands and Bright Red surprises in Central Park ! Count on Reflections ! Unfortunately No MORE DAncing ! All frivolous activities will be prohibited. /  by Mirena Rhee

Happy Easter and Passover!

This Weekend - Saturday and Sunday - 10 am - 6pm.

Reflections, Giant Hands and Bright Red surprises in Central Park !

Unfortunately No MORE DAncing ! All frivolous activities will be prohibited.

On further reflection - all Dancing people should be permanently guilotinned.

Remember Summer, series of installations in Central Park /  by Mirena Rhee

Remember Summer

Installation in Central Park, 2021

Remember Summer is a series of installations in Central Perk created to complement the old masters colors of the park with streaks of red, orange, yellow and blue. Created by artist Mirena Rhee without the endorsement of the park.

A lot of people who come to see the installations immediately recollect the Gates.

I am not gonna pretend, I work in the tradition of Christo Javacheff but my work is quick, fast to deploy, without permission, cheaper to make and easy to handle by just one person. It lasts mostly a day and then its gone. That’s the spirit of the 21 century. The speed of light :)

Right now Central Park is the color of An old masters painting except for the Vermilion and the ultramarine blue and yellow which I guess goes into the birds

Whenever I work in New York City

People always stop by to talk offer support comments and the work often times ends up a collaboration people suggest things maybe I try them.

As you know people in New York often talk to strangers which is something that happens nowhere else in the world.

People understand, are curious, ask questions and often physically help.

Street culture has always been important for New York City also the culture of Central Park which is kind of a mix of the city and picnicin culture.

In New York I guess the apartments are too small, And Venues too expensive. So people take their creativity to the Street

The Hands of Memory Replacement Election Day 2020 /  by Mirena Rhee

remember summer - can’t wait for spring - tree hugs - minimalist installation in central park /  by Mirena Rhee


remember summer - can’t wait for spring - tree hugs - minimalist installation in central park inspired by the Colors of Central park which are Old masters colors this time of the year. And the fire ladders all over the park which beckoned to me to splash some color here and there.

I was stalking some trees which look incredibly honest and beautiful this time of the year. If you see a Rembrandt painting you will see the same colors except for Vermilion, Yellow and Ultramarine which at this time of the year are hidden in the colors of the birds.

The colors and the shapes and of course the Fire ladder inspired me to make a few minimal installations which will come back next week just in time for spring. I love working in the park, it is incredibly beautiful but it is also full of culture, which is the mix of street culture of New York city as well as the neighborhood cultures of UES and UWS, the cultures of the performers, the drum circles, the musicians, the bubble guy, the museum going crowd, the Boathouse crowd, the joggers and the bikers and the boarders, and the skaters.

As for myself - if Christo, Marina Abramovich and Dali made a triangle - I'd sit in the middle.

Colors of central park - like a Rembrandt painting with the splashes of color from the Red ladders

Tree Hugs - remember summer - can’t wait for spring series of installations in central park. Wanted to thank especially Nikola, Mary, Greg, Karen and Michael - Thank you ! /  by Mirena Rhee

Salvador Dali waiving in the sky over Cadaques or A Bucket Always Helps /  by Mirena Rhee

Salvador Dali waiving in the sky over Cadaques, 5 x 7 feet, acrylic on canvas, 2021

See more and details of the painting here: https://www.mirenarhee.com/salvador-d...​

In this painting I use old masters technique of glazing layers and cobalt blue pigments. It shimmers.

Let me just say that I think the bucket is the most useful thing ever, if it's a nice color it's even better. The only thing a bucket doesn't do is paint a picture. But I can paint a picture and I can paint it really well, we are a good team. Now if I could only get an iPhone to play along.

First of all I have to say that I don't care for iPhones or tools just because they're brand names I want a tool to do its job and the job of this particular device for me is to take a picture. But the iPhone takes yellow pictures, I call it the cadaver filter and I'm just going to return the phone because it's not useful to me. I want to have a device that takes good pictures but also true to color without any misguided beautification.

Truth is the best policy in everything, including taking pictures and art. I learned that once at SFMoma where both Richard Avedon and Robert Frank had exhibitions. Avedon was on the top floor, Frank was on the third floor. Avedon pictures were like 6 feet tall, Frank's pictures were 6 inches tall. Frank won hands down and I lost all interest in Richard Avedon since.