“Ink on Canvas”, the Fan is a representative element of East culture. It’s pretty much a perfect composition to open itself. So I cut wood strips and made a big one as under layer of my work, the clay is good for sculpting the shape of the fan’s folding. Then I painted traditional Chinese Ink works with Oil paints on canvas, on purpose of showing the combination of two different skills of art. Commonly the Ink painting should be an entire one piece on the paper of fan, but I deconstructed the elements and scattered them on the work randomly, then left the right part of each image to carve on clay. It’s another fusion of art from east and west.
"Cosiness I". An ancient snuff bottle from China of Qin dynasty. During that period people put tobacco into the bottle and would smell it to get the same effect as cigarette. Along the time goes, this tiny stuff became a handicraft and has been collected by people because their special techniques and different materials. Typically the pattern on the bottle is painted from inside, so there is a specific brush for it as what I made on the right side. The tip has been curved so that the artisan could put it through the bottleneck to do their works. The profile of snuff bottle looks very stable and harmonious, and the “blue nude” from Matisse has the same suitable shape around it. So I pasted it on the bottle directly and switched the color into orange to meet the cap. It does look comfortable in the end.
Through “Analysis”, I want to present the different way of thinking. Traditional Chinese calligraphy comes with initial feeling and sense, but the work from Mondrian has experimented thousand times to figure out the balance of colors. Its almost as accurate as a math formula. So I drew some sketches to “analyze” Chinese calligraphy with western measurement to show the distinctions, and envelop Mondrian’s work with “Chinese frame” from SuZhou Garden.
The work “Fitter” is inspired from SuZhou Garden in China, which is a very famous legacy. I have been there three times but still not enough. I’m obsessed with their buildings’ elegant colors and shapes. There is a old word for it: With every each step you get the new scenery in SuZhou Garden. The famous architect I. M. Pei lived there and has been influenced a lot, you can see many reflections on his design. Body adoring started from west, and I found the woman’s torso is perfectly fit for the gate in SuZhou Garden. I made a surrounding with sheer white color to show the simplicity and peace, then have a torso made by clay in the middle to find a way to be harmonious in the composition.
During the “pipe” work of “Communication”, I arranged two pipes from west and east to stand together “face to face”, pretty much like two friends hang out in Starbucks. They talk with each other with totally different languages and cultural backgrounds, but still enjoy it. The smoke is the mean design in this work. I matched smoke ring for the western pipe to show the straight and direct features of western character with rough surface, and put the traditional Chinese pattern of auspicious clouds as the smoke from East pipe with smooth surface to show the restrained and connotation of Chinese identity. Not only from the distinguished shapes, but also the textures are different. Chinese pipes are made of copper and jade, plus the carving work is pretty delicate. Western pipes are consist of beautiful wood and mixed plastic. For me, these are all interesting elements to present in my works.
Cheongsam symbolizes typical garments for Chinese women, which show the elegance and charm of curves of women’s torso appropriately and implicitly. It presents Chinese style of women’s beauty. Compared with west, they tend to be conservative and bashful. But during the period of the 20s in ShangHai, when it still was a colony. A great number of foreigners came into China and brought the western culture at the same time. It’s pretty much like an intrusion so that people had no choice but to accept it passively. I picked the old posters of cigarette and alcohol ads during that period and pasted them on the Cheongsam I made directly. These posters actually show the conflicts and contradictions at that time to some degree, which is like a record to preserve the memories. Chinese women has been opener and have had more initiative than before since they met and accessed to western life. And this is also the reason why I named my work “penetration”.
“New La Coiffure” comes from an oil painting of Matisse: La Coiffure. I abstracted the body to sculpt it and became 3 dimensional, and I decorated it as a Chinese porcelain with specific pattern. A Chinese vase is a very typical handicraft in home ornament. It become beautiful with its gorgeous profile and polished surface, which has similar features with women’s body, and the analogical reason why western people have adored it since long ago. Then I tried to imitate the showcase in the museum to put the facilities like torch and thermometer then the water to keep its moisture. It conveys some commonality between western and eastern aesthetic judgment.
“Balance” took old scale in China as the main element. It has been used in groceries for weighing food like vegetables and meals during old period in China. On the other side, it could be a very representative object to recall the passed moment. The scale means balance, so I tend to present its own balance without measuring any stuff on the plate. The weight, bar, plate even the wire played their roles like point, line and plane to keep the composition comfortable. I have measured and tried many different ways to make the whole image get more harmonious and balanced. The scale has a way to show its special and beautiful rhythm. The light grey color played the supporting role in the composition.
The work of “Bending” reveals a female torso with steel mesh, covered with white napkins with white acrylic. The window frame comes from SuZhou garden, the representative pattern and shapes shows the symbolized Chinese culture identity of restraint, calm and structured. These elements limited the bending of torso, specially the waist, what’s more, is the admiration of female nude from west. The profile of window frame is anastomotic with the belly muscles. So I pasted it on that part and painted the white color on the left half of the torso as the typical match of wall and window from SuZhou garden. I left the right side to be still mesh to show the extension of flexible and possibilities. It’s a combination and a contradiction between western and eastern as well.
“New Cage” is a very typical stuff in China for elders’ entertainment. We can see it in parks everywhere in the morning. Old people hang out together with their birds. Usually there are fabric covers on the top to avoid shock the birds. At the same time, it symbolizes an old sense of imprisonment and control for beautiful things from Chinese history to some degree. I pasted a printed nude oil painting which I did before on the canvas to replaced the bird. She is facing a mirror which is like a extended space in composition. On the opposite way, a old man pushing a caged cart staring and walking to her, a big conflict generated between conservative elder and new admiration for female nude. Viewers can even see themselves through the mirror which seems like they are in the cage at the same time. Around it, I pasted some typical entertainment scene to assist the atmosphere.
“Cosiness II” is a nude sculpture lying on the bottom of a Chinese teapot with lotus and crane. I intend to present the harmonious sense of the different profiles of pot and body. The transparent teapot can show the effect well. Viewers can easily look into the pot and enjoy the tiny scene. Tea is indispensable to culture in the east, especially the teapots, which became a kind of delicate artwork for people to preserve and collect. And drinking tea is essential in Chinese society. The scene inside a classical Chinese subject of ink painting from so long ago, which represents purity and elegance. Tea-leaves have been substituted by western nude in my work.
"Pass By". This piece is two women’s portrait on canvas. One is frontal and another is rear. They are wearing two distinguished typical elements from west and east. The hairpin with tassels is a traditional item to revise women’s walking gesture. They have to be very elegant and slow all the time, otherwise the tassels will hit their face from drastic swaying. This is a very representative phenomenon during the ancient period, what’s more, it presents the traditional Chinese sense of conservative and grace at the same time. The western girl with mask on the right side wearing noseband, earrings and tattoo. These elements shows the perception of direct and opening of western females. They relatively have no boundary and are free to live with their own ways, such as punk. I juxtaposed them together with almost same profile, to emphasize and centralize the distinctions. In terms of the composition, it appears crossed echoing on elements( hairpin and tattoo; mask and Chinese dress) and horizontal echoing on colors(hairpin and grey background; mask and white background; red dress and tattoo)
My last piece “2hours”, I didn't put any literal elements at all, instead, it’s more involved in my straight emotional release. I regard it as a conclusion of my new collection. The work is finished in 2 hours, i turned on the different music and tried to follow my original sense of distinguish between east and west, get away from any details boundary and realistic shapes. There are smooth and translucent brush works with Chinese ink on left side/east side, and geometric form with textures on the right side/west side in oil. However, there are still some features i have presented, which is the eastern connotation and western straight. Like Picasso said: “There is no abstract art. You must always star with something”. I hope this work embodies the essential idea of east and west contrast and coexistence of my project focus.