The graduation season and graduation exhibition are a starting point for young art creators to move towards the future, through their reflections, their artistic observations, their understanding and expression of their own environment, perhaps we can also capture the changes that are taking place in the times. With a butterfly flapping its wings, can the storm begin? When does it start? We don't know yet, but what we do know is the sincere expression from the creator and the charm of thought in the creative process. On the one hand, it allows us to get closer to the new art more naturally in the exchange, and on the other hand, we can also see the different and distinctive personality characteristics, creative methods and directions of young creators.
White tank top, blue jeans, black boots/Givenchy
谢雨欣白色背心/& Other Stories蓝色阔腿牛仔裤/Dsquared2
梁宗耀白色背心/Gucci蓝色牛仔裤/Levi's黑色皮鞋/Ferragamo
With the theme of "Butterfly Wings", we would like to introduce to you three artists who performed well in the graduation exhibition: Liang Zongyao, Xie Yuxin, and Zhan Jiaoang, and their active youth power from their different perspectives, voices, and thoughts.
Off-white leather jacket, grey leather vest, off-white shorts / Zegna black leather shoes / Givenchy
When asked how to judge a sculpture, Leung said: "As a sculpture in the contemporary field, it should not only be a predetermined static existence, but also provide an experiential process on the spot and make the viewer feel a strong resonance. ”
Glass and flesh
Theorized Suffering Series Cardiopulmonary System – Heart
In the graduation exhibition, Liang Zongyao's work was named "Theorized Pain Series", and the eye-catching feature of this work is that it uses glass materials that are rarely seen in other graduation works.
The pneumatic tube is connected to the glass body, and the gas and iron powder form the fluidity, indicating the changes and dynamics of the operation.
"Theorized Pain Series" Skeleton – Left Hand
When these crystalline, hard, and fragile glasses are simulated as hidden, soft, and vital bodily organs, it is easy to draw the viewer into a serious reflection about oneself, or to express the feelings of life about birth, old age, sickness and death through the X-rays that announce some kind of uneasy conclusion.
Theorized Pain Series
Glass, iron powder, and "body" are the materials that Liang Zongyao often uses in his creations. His sensitivity to materials and his ability to control them are the foundation and outstanding features of his work. This sensitivity may be partly due to his upbringing with woodcarving, "for a long time, wood became my support".
"Trembling Series"
Combined with another piece, "Trembling and Towering", this creative support can also be explained as the capture of the characteristics of the material, and the state of the work is deduced in the artistic process of interweaving feeling and reason.
Irreversible results
Based on the perception of the material, "being" is the artist's unique understanding and observation. From his first exposure to glass in 2018, Leung was impressed by this difficult-to-capture and difficult-to-control material. "The flow of the glass after a long period of hot melting, and the moment before blow molding, is particularly fascinating. During the entire process from picking to blowing, the control time left can be as little as 30 seconds or less. ”
"Trembling Series"
In this process of focusing on the material, time seems to be compressed, "I enjoy it in this kind of session, because it requires the brain to think quickly, and time is compressed to the point that it is no longer a concept of seconds".
Returning to the "Theorized Pain Series", through the various materials themselves, these crystalline and fragile glass, flowing iron powder and noble gas pipes in series together depict the operation of the imaged living body.
The body may also be a "sculpture in progress", and we have to admit that everything we have and use today, including our bodies themselves, is mostly in a situation where we are powerless to interfere with. But if so, why do we feel it so deeply?
The irreversible result, the unstoppable process, eventually grows into the work of art itself.
A lot of "in"
"Theorized Pain Series" makes it easy for the viewer to ask—what is theorized pain? It seems to lead thinking to the "dilemma of reason".
In answering this question, Liang Zongyao uses medical diagnosis as a metaphor, X-ray film represents the judgment of medical theory, which is the result and answer of authoritative theory, and the appearance of the work itself is a concrete display of this abstraction.
"Trembling Series"
As for the meaning of "suffering", it may be hidden in the keen sense of the material, as well as in the experience of the viewer, and even the understanding of "theorized suffering" varies from person to person. Here, Leung discusses the material, image, and generation of the work, as well as its communication with the viewer.
In short, the sculpture works come from each stage of the creative process, which is manifested in the artist's understanding of the material, in the irreversible dynamic occurrence of the sculpture itself, and in the experience of the audience in the atmosphere of the sculpture site.
White loose-fitting short-sleeved T-shirt /adidas Originals
For artistic creation, "being" is the conclusion of rational cognition, while "process" is complex, requiring continuous perception and experimentation, "need to go through a very long cycle", and finally bring together a rigorous creative logic to show the form of the work.
黑色外套/Ferragamo白色长裙/ba&sh金色高跟鞋/Gianvito Rossi
Xie Yuxin has a very clear understanding and ideas of her own artistic creation, whether it is the theoretical research of art ontology or the experiment in the creation of seeking artistic presentation, she has left a deep impression on people as a "research-oriented art creator".
We can never recognize the whole picture of a thing, and when we look at a work of art, we habitually ask what the work is trying to express? What does the artist want to convey to the audience? Or even why do artists do this? Xie Yuxin did not shy away from these "universal" questions, she was logical and knew what she was doing. For her, "the work is like a state in the research process, a manifestation of the cognitive process". Since her undergraduate, she has been questioning existence and exploring the ontological language of art under the concept of printmaking, which is reflected in the creation of the "Chair" series. Existence and presence, a philosophical question that cannot be answered clearly, is a bit brain-burning, and also has a bit of "meaningless" metaphysical color.
"Existence is always the existence of the existent"
"Discussing the topic of the individual, or the topic of the existence of the individual, how it is established, how we can support it, and what kind of way to make it remembered, this is a core of my creation, and it has always run through my work."
The choice of such a theoretical concept as the direction of creation also hides the artist's perceptual perception of the world. Xie Yuxin gradually became interested in the issue of "existence" from various aspects of her life, such as the evaluation of the same event by different people, other objective information behind the widely recognized events, changes in the growth environment, and then escalated to the geopolitical disputes between different groups, etc.
It seems that we can never recognize the whole picture of a thing, and with these questions, Xie Yuxin began to explore the possibilities of "existence".
Lucky, loving, passionate
Xie Yuxin's working method starts from the tracing and research of the problem, and the artist needs to conduct a lot of text reading and practical research, "This will broaden the thinking and thinking, and will not be limited to a discussion within a known scope".
I have to say that Xie Yuxin chose a very valuable method and process, which is more like a "disenchantment" of artistic creation. Especially in the era of the flood of images, it can pull our understanding of artworks back from a relatively simple vision, and understand the depth of art more directly.
《（116.4°E：39.9°N）》
Because it is not only cognition that is limited, but also emotions and feelings, it is not bad to express unreserved feelings, it needs to rely on the display of media materials, painting skills or environment creation, in the era of ever-changing media, the form of expression of concepts has always been a problem that contemporary artists need to constantly try and pay attention to.
From the artist's point of view, "thinking about making this thing is also a headache in the process of transforming the medium and concept", but the more important thing is the value of the work. ”
In the case of this graduation work, "Existence is Always the Existence of the Being", it has undergone a long-term and gradual experimental process at the level of material analysis, language selection, installation technology and other media of the work.
The careful selection of each step and the overall presentation are very crucial, and they carry the artist's real and reasonable opinions. "One of the most important tasks of an artist is to make choices and to subtly express this relationship."
The destruction of the Columbus sculpture in Boston on June 10, 2020
Prior to the use of iron powder for this work, Xie Yuxin even considered using gold, as well as gallium metal in another work titled "The Destruction of the Columbus Sculpture in Boston on June 10, 2020."
白色背心/& Other Stories蓝色阔腿牛仔裤/Dsquared2
For research-oriented art creators, they often have to face challenges and learning from different fields in the creative process. Whether it is a familiar speculation of her works or a calm plan for the future, Xie Yuxin's works in each series make people feel her rationality, calmness, prudence and seriousness. In addition to rationality, there is a sentence that once showed Xie Yuxin's character in the summary of creation: "Lucky, loving, full of enthusiasm." Go on the left line with a warm sun. "I hope that young art creators will always maintain this enthusiasm.
Long black jacket, white tank top, black trousers, red leather shoes/Gucci
Zhan Jiang shows an open and complacent attitude towards talking about his creations, and this sense of relaxation is very prominent and infectious. He is always able to tell the story of his experiences of life, art, and the future, although he himself says, "I may convey a more optimistic state to others, but in fact I am a pessimistic person."
Real life experience
If a word were chosen to replace the "pessimistic" that Zhan said, "focus" might provide a better interpretation.
Like a Dream, 120cmX75cm, ink on silk, pastel, gold leaf, silver foil, 2019
In his creation, Zhan Jiao does not seem to be easily swayed by the outside world, he can always pour what he has learned, felt, thought and think into the picture, "when creating, he can often not open his mouth for a day or two except for eating."
Ripples, 86cmX96cm, ink on silk, pastel color, gold leaf, silver leaf, 2021
Like flipping through a diary, Zhan can clearly describe the state of each work at the time of creation, and each creative process is clear and profound. For him, painting is the manifestation of the state of life, and it is also the most real life experience.
Different cultural symbols or images often appear in Zhan Jiao's works, which are due to his long-term study of painting techniques and his personal understanding of various cultural types.
Floating Dust, 18cmX80cm, ink on silk, pastel color, gold leaf, silver foil, 2021
On the whole, the experience of Zhan Jiao is relaxed, and the sense of relaxation comes from being able to face himself honestly, "I am good at painting, and my views and perspectives on the world are expressed through painting, which is very good", and the content of the work is "my own world view".
However, relaxation is not lying flat, all kinds of feelings from life are important factors for the artist to make the audience empathize, "If there is no squeeze of life, only one-sided positive gain, it may be difficult to experience all the feelings that life gives."
Read the paintings
Zhan Jiao's immersion in the picture, and the ability to break through the limitations of the technical level, makes his works gain a broader space and possibility in conveying ideas, "reinterpreting the themes of traditional literati paintings, contemporaneating the traditional motifs, or using my own perspective and aesthetic logic to reinterpret them with my creative methods".
Heart Flower, 59cmX47cm, ink on silk, pastel, gold leaf, silver foil, 2022
There is no deliberate grand issue, no exaggerated and intense atmosphere, with relatively realistic expression, delicate expression of fine brushwork, and a composition layout that can withstand pondering and refinement, especially after the "dislocation and reconstruction of the contemporary subject matter" of the work, Zhan Jiao's works reveal a strong sense of self-control and self-dialogue.
Constantly in dialogue with the works, constantly carrying out contemporary interpretations on the picture, for Zhan Jiang, "painting and life are constantly pulling and nourishing each other, the picture is feeding your life, and your life is constantly giving nutrients to your picture".
白色背心/Givenchy
Therefore, when facing Zhan Jiao's paintings, it seems that "reading paintings" is much more appropriate than "looking at paintings", and reading paintings is more inclined to communicate with the so-called "charm" in traditional calligraphy and painting, and the artistic conception that is difficult to describe conveys the unique sensory elements in the characteristics of Zhan Jiao's paintings. For the work, it is also a two-way communication with the reader, "it is looking for a reader who can match the values conveyed by the painting".
Planning and editing-Yuan Xiao
新媒体编辑-Monster C
Interview, text - An Jingye
Image - Wen Shichao
Photography - Nie Chengkun
Makeup, hairstyle - Ma Zhijun
Costume assistant - lyy