I’m grateful that Yiwei Lu agreed to be interviewed by Art Lovers Forum during this difficult time in Los Angeles. Her galleries are in Venice Beach and Wuhan, China.
We officially met during the Art Fairs in Miami last month. Miami friends of mine, Emily and Chris Campbell, bought art from Yiwei more than a year ago and they now have a close relationship.
I wanted to hear what it was like being an art dealer in Los Angeles during the recent horrific wildfires. I knew Yiwei would talk from the heart. While she plans to forge forward, she is taking a little time for herself to absorb the destruction of her adopted town.
To date, the fires have killed at least 27 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and charred more than 60 square miles. You have to be very strong to stay upbeat when so many folks around her are suffering from tremendous losses. While art isn’t the number one item on your wish list when everything you own is gone, it certainly can bring great joy to those who find paintings, sculptures, assemblages, etc., therapeutic. Yiwei wants to support the community through this rebuild era.
Yiwei opened her gallery in Venice Beach in 2019. One of her clients is actor Billy Zane who she says is also a terrific artist as well. She loves living in Los Angeles and says despite many of the challenges ahead, most folks plan to stay. Part of her mission is to bring joy into the lives of people who are in limbo now. She will work to discover and promote unique and underrepresented voices, fostering cross-cultural understanding through art with the mission of integrating art into everyday life.
Yiwei will continue to be highly active in the art fair circuit, participating in notable fairs such as Photofairs New York, Intersect Palm Springs, San Francisco Art Fair, Future Fair New York, Spring Break Los Angeles, and Beijing Dangdai Art Fair. The gallery is also set to attend Intersect Aspen, Art 021 Shanghai, and Untitled Miami. Additionally, Yiwei Gallery collaborates with nonprofit art organizations and art festivals globally, including Casa Reigs in Italy and the Shenyang International Localized Art Festival.
Sometimes, it doesn’t even take a single word to send out a message loud and clear. Is your body language skewing others’ view of you? Are your expressions, gestures, and positions revealing feelings you’d rather keep hidden — or that you aren’t even aware of?
2/15
Licking Your Lips
Maybe you’re just daydreaming about lunch, but to a conversation partner, licking your lips can read as sexual attraction. You may also wet them when talking about a romantic partner — which can be a sign you’re sexually satisfied and deeply in love.
3/15
Handshake
Handshakes and first impressions go, well, hand in hand. A nice, firm grip combined with a hearty (but not too hearty) shake can imply you’re outgoing and confident. A limp and weak squeeze sets you up as unsure. How long you hold your shaker’s hand matters, too: If you drop out too quickly, it can suggest shyness.
4/15
Nodding
Bobbing your head up and down during a conversation can make you seem agreeable and interested. Nods are catching, so if you nod while you speak, you might convince others to go along with what you’re saying.
5/15
Posture
There’s a reason people say they’re “in a slump” when things aren’t going their way. Science says slouching your shoulders can make you hold on to stress and feel sad. Standing up straight can help you feel positive and come across as confident and focused.
Having trouble standing tall? Check in with your doctor to see if there’s an underlying medical cause like osteoporosis.
6/15
Touching Your Face and Hair
Twirling a lock, brushing back your bangs, or bringing your hands to your face can come across as flirty. “Self-grooming” behaviors like these may make it seem like you’re hoping for attention from someone you fancy.
7/15
Locking Eyes
A steady gaze creates a mixed bag of emotion. If the person you’re talking to is comfortable with you, they’re more likely to find you trustworthy if you hold eye contact. If they’re unsure about you, a long look will make you seem more threatening. And no matter what someone thinks of you, everyone has an eye contact threshold where things start to feel … awkward.
8/15
Smiling
A feel-good grin is contagious. When you smile at someone, it sends a signal to their mouth muscles to do the same. Their smile triggers the parts of their brain that deal with happiness, and they feel a greater sense of connection with you.
9/15
Stance
Standing wide with uncrossed legs or arms tends to give off an “open and available” vibe. Staring at the ground or keeping your arms across your chest are more likely to send the signal that you’re closed off and out of reach.
10/15
Hand Gestures
Want to be memorable? Talk with your hands. When you gesture as you gab, it’s more likely that your words will linger in someone’s mind. But don’t overdo it. Big movements may make you seem out of control and excitable.
11/15
Dilated Pupils
You may want to slip on some shades next time you’re around your crush so the “windows to your soul” don’t give away your secret longing. When you’re interested in or aroused by someone, your pupils dilate. It’s not something you can control, but it may help you out with your object of affection: having larger pupils tends to make you more attractive to others.
12/15
Tense Lips
If you tend to press your lips together, you should know: Liars are more likely to have this habit than people who tell the truth. Being (literally) tight-lipped could make you come across as untrustworthy.
13/15
Distance
It’s good to respect personal space, but when you lean away from someone, they’re more likely to suspect your motives. Same goes for fidgeting or crossing your arms. Leaning forward suggests partnership and that they can rely on you.
14/15
Microexpressions
No matter how hard you try to “fix your face,” it may still give you away — and it only takes a fraction of a second. Just a flash of a facial twitch, grimace, or raised brow leaves an impression that’s hard to shake. So if your unguarded reaction to something is disgust, chances are an observer may sense that in their gut, even if they can’t say why.
15/15
Mirroring
Copying the way someone’s standing, their expressions, or even their accent often builds trust and understanding between you. But this doesn’t always work. If you’re in a position of power over the person you’re mirroring, it can weird them out. Another barrier: Botox. When you can’t furrow your brow alongside someone else, for example, you won’t be able to relate to their feelings as deeply — and vice versa.
I just want to say that I love Carmin Kilpatrick’s artwork.
She was raised in Parkland, Florida. That’s a half hour drive away from Miami. I am helping her start her career as an abstract expressionist artist. The reason I am writing about her is because I interviewed her on my art podcast and I was so impressed with how she understands what she has to do to be a strong adult. Many young people are lost in today’s chaotic world. It’s so refreshing to hear Carmin articulate what the universe can offer her and what she has to do to have a secure future.
She is only a freshman in college and yet she has mastered creating art that is filled with mystery, intrigue, secrets, fascination and new shapes and designs. I can stare at her work forever.
I have shown her work to a few experts who like what they see and are now waiting anxiously to see what she produces over the next few years. I am going to collect a few of her paintings now because I believe she is going to embrace new trends and opportunities in the future. When you listen to her podcast interview, you will hear she has the right, genuine attitude, interest, and natural desire to make her mark in the art world.
Carmin feels that through her work, she can provoke thought, spark dialogue, and illuminate important personal and social issues. Her art delves into the intertwined concepts of truth, judgment, and change, exploring how they shape identity in a rapidly evolving world.
She was born in California but grew up in South Florida and attended the Arts Academy at North Broward Preparatory School for high school (as their first scholarship recipient). Carmin traveled to Italy and received a grant to spend 6 weeks in Wexford, Ireland, practicing art with a small group of students. Besides art, she loves fashion and creative direction—from mood boards, to styling, to photoshoots. Carmin hopes to work with fashion as another medium of art. She is currently a Studio Art BFA major at Florida State University.
When Liz Berman Sklaw ran the New York Marathon this past November she unequivocally felt like she was viewing a kaleidoscope of paintings in every borough she passed through. “It may have been the diversity of the street crowds, or the change in architecture every few miles,” Liz said. She felt like she was in an art trance. The fact that she was totally focused on the beauty of the city, Liz found the energy needed to finish the race.
Liz started running a number of years ago because it enabled her to experience different worlds. Being on foot you get to see life from different perspectives, and she felt it helped her become a better wife and mother by broadening her horizons. She doesn’t look at the world through one lens anymore. She is able to see and understand different perspectives.
Liz runs at home and when she travels. She gets more creative when she runs. Painters create on canvas; she creates when her feet hit the ground running. She also needs that time to help her come up with new ideas for her promotion business and fundraising for various charities. She gets more daring, more spiritual and definitely more fearless. It’s wonderful to become more liberated when you have to be so many things to so many people day.
Listen to episode 33 of the Art Lovers Forum podcast here –
But a week after he retired in May, he was diagnosed with cancer. Now, Winston said, he regrets working such long hours during his career, often missing out on trips and date nights.
Winston is one of a few dozen respondents to an informal Business Insider survey who said they worked too hard during their careers or focused too much on saving for retirement, sacrificing family time, travel, or other leisure activities when they were younger. They’re among the more than 3,600 older Americans who shared their life regrets through surveys or direct emails to reporters. This story is part of an ongoing series.
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But a week after he retired in May, he was diagnosed with cancer. Now, Winston said, he regrets working such long hoursduring his career, often missing out on trips and date nights.
Winston is one of a few dozen respondents to an informal Business Insider survey who said they worked too hard during their careers or focused too much on saving for retirement, sacrificing family time, travel, or other leisure activities when they were younger. They’re among the more than 3,600 older Americans who shared their life regrets through surveys or direct emails to reporters. This story is part of an ongoing series.
Some survey respondents thought they were behind on retirement goals and chose to bypass larger purchases, only to realize they were well-prepared and too cautious about getting there. A few said traumatic experiences, such as the death of a loved one or a catastrophic medical diagnosis, made them anxious about saving money in case of another emergency. Interviews with five Americans who thought they were too frugal point to the difficulties of knowing how to best prepare for retirement.
Dylan Tyson, the president of retirement strategies at Prudential Financial,described the mindset of an oversaver: “You’re cutting back on living — not taking that extra trip or going to that concert or ball game with family and friends — because you’re worried that you don’t have enough saved.”
Saving for an anticlimactic retirement
Winston, who lives in Arizona, spent much of his career in veterinary work. Throughout his life, he drove modest vehicles, lived in an upper-middle-class house, and was cautious about making larger purchases.
He retired with about $3 million but wished he’d spent some of that money on an assistant for his practice so he wouldn’t need to work nights running an emergency vet helpline.
“That sucked up a lot of oxygen in my life. I never could watch a movie when I went out with my wife because I would get a dozen phone calls,” Winston said, though he acknowledged the helpline helped make his practice successful.
He planned to spend some of his savings in retirement, but he was diagnosed with lung cancer in May and said life has “been hell” since then.
“I have enough money to live until 95 and go on vacations. I have a whole life ahead of me, and this is what happens,” Winston said. “I have cancer, and I may not even enjoy the money I worked hard to save.”
Tyson said that while a lot of retirement is “guesswork,” people should try to determine how much lifetime income they’ll need to achieve their retirement goals while balancing their spending needs, wants, and wishes.
“With millions of Americans facing uncertainty, we see the smartest of them taking action to create financial plans that focus squarely on the things that matter most,” Tyson said. “Then they are protecting those goals by ensuring that they have secure, predictable income to fund their retirement needs and wants — freeing them to worry less and pursue their greatest wishes.”
Working too hard and missing out on friends and family
Ruth Mills, 63, said she began saving laterin life but amassed seven figures through frugal living and careful investing. The Minnesota resident had children in her early 20s and finances were tight. As a single mom, she held multiple jobs, working odd jobs as a part-time in-home personal care assistant in addition to full-time work. She worked her way up to a senior accounting officer for the state.
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She said because she worked so much and cared for her children alone, she missed opportunities to go out with friends or travel more with family. She said a part of her wished she’d forgone some savings so she could have worked one less job or had hobbies.
“I did well saving for retirement, but so much so I was too frugal along the way and did not enjoy as much while younger as I worked too much,” Mills said.
Mills said she pushed back a trip to Ireland that she’s no longer physically equipped to take. She recently downsizedher house and hopes to retire soon and use her retirement years to spoil her grandchildren and have an active lifestyle.
“Having all the money in the world is great, and I don’t have that, but if you don’t have the friends and people to spend it with at the end, it’s a trade-off,” Mills said. She added, “Having made the necessary sacrifices to save and invest earlier, I am looking forward to having the financial security to be able to afford the basic necessities and share adventures and experiences with the grandkids.”
Ryan Viktorin, a financial consultant and CFP at Fidelity, said she sees three categories of “oversavers”: people who experience an unfortunate event that keeps them from spending the money they’ve saved, people who worry they’ll never have enough because of healthcare costs or market volatility, and people who continue working because they haven’t mentally prepared for retirement, fearing it’s monotonous or isolating.
She also said that baby boomers retiring now grew up hearing stories about their parents or grandparents going through the Great Depression.
“Sometimes I hear from my clients who have saved really well who say it’s in their bones to continue to be frugal, and they feel like they can’t really enjoy themselves or live their lives because they have to keep saving,” she said.
Missing out on key family moments
Kirk, 75, said he didn’t realize he was doing such a good job of preparing for retirement. The retired California attorney, who asked to use only his first name for privacy concerns, worked for various financial institutions and maxed out his 401(k). He amassed over $1.1 million in tax-deferred retirement savings. However, he feared an emergency or market crash would derail his plans for a comfortable retirement.
After retiring from his full-time job at 67, he realized there were opportunities he missed out on because he held back on spending. He regrets not going on a weekslong trip to France with his brother in his 60s; now, his brother has cognitive challenges that make travel difficult. On a trip to Hawaii, he signed his two children up for a helicopter tour but didn’t go himself to save money.
“It would have been a great experience to have shared with them and talked about for years to come,” Kirk said. “I could now pay for a dozen helicopter rides and not miss the money.”
Viktorin said it’s important to look at the gap between expenses and income and figure out where there’s some wiggle room in your budget beyond saving for retirement, which may help alleviate some of these anxieties older Americans have.
“When you build out a financial plan, you can build out the ‘what ifs’ and see what it looks like,” Viktorin said. “What if we took an extra trip and spent more money? What if we flew business class rather than coach or economy? What if we started to help our children more?”
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