2016 “呼吸 · 景致” 王茜专访 | Interview with Wang Qian


1. 请问你的本次个展的中文主题为何取名为“呼吸·景致”?

Why the theme of yoursolo exhibition is named “呼吸景致 (translates literally as “Breathe · Scene ”) in Chinese?

取这个名字是从我作品的载体和题材上考虑的,作品中选用的绢这种材质,半透明柔软的特性好像画面本身可以呼吸一样,画面当中营造的场景都是虚构的,这里的景致是不真实和矛盾的。

The theme in Chinese comes from the fabric of silk that I use for my artworks as well as the major subjects from my work. Silk is delicate, soft, fine, light and transparent, so the images on this fabric seem breathable. “Scene” is the virtual stories I imagined on the silk, which are not real and are contradictory sometimes.

2. 你的作品用西方的绘画方法融合了东方的美学意境,这样的创作灵感来自于何处?

Your artworks merge western fine arts skills with oriental artistic aesthetics. Where does your inspiration come from?

我一直以来所学习的专业是油画,接触和研究的视觉形式也是西方的,但是对于中国传统艺术的追求是由内而外生发出来的。我借鉴中国画当中的韵律和元素,在我画面的空间当中安置他们。同时我也不愿放弃西方绘画当中对于画面构成的理性安排,在不断尝试中平衡他们的关系。

My major was in oil painting during my academic study. All my knowledge and visual experience are more from Western perception. However, my root drives me to study our traditional art. Thus I started to learn the rhythm and elements from traditional Chinese paintings. I relocate them on my visual space. However, I still stick to the rational approach to organize the space. I keep trying to balance them both in my artworks.

3. 在你的作品内容中,多次表达了动物世界中的两性关系,你想借此向观众传达何种信息?

Most of your artworks depict the relationship between male and female in the animals. What kind of messages you intend to convey?

动物当中的对于性,权力之类的追求更加直接,没有遮拦。但是中国绘画当中动物的造型和构图设计,又将这种情绪表达的很含蓄,这就产生了矛盾,我想要做的是,用中国绘画中的元素,重新编排我理解的两性关系和人性关系,出现的元素都是我画面里的“演员”。有时候我反思我所处的女性立场,有时候也从文学作品当中感知“关系”,甚至假想出可能存在的情况。我在绘画的时候将“演员”安置在一个自相矛盾,危机四伏的环境当中,在画面中产生故事。

In the nature, the desire and the pursuit of sex and power are much more direct. However, traditional Chinese art delivered such emotions in a very discreet and delicate way in terms of visual presentation. I found it’s contradictory. Therefore I want to represent the relationship and the connection between male and female. All the major objects from my work are actors/actresses in the scene from a story. Sometimes, I reflect on the relationship from my female position, sometimes I perceive the relationship from literature and I even assume possible scenes. I place these “actors/actresses” in the risky and contradictory circumstances to create my own stories.

4. 此次的参展作品中,有一幅名为“浪潮”的作品惹人注目,受到观者的很多好评,能为我们具体谈谈这幅作品吗?

As one of the most popular exhibited artworks, Wavereceived the overwhelming good feedback, can you tell us more about it in detail?

 

在北京生活学习了很多年,这座巨大的城市当中同样承载着数量巨大的人口,人潮涌动是常态。有一次我在高峰期间乘坐地铁,狭窄的换乘通道里面,满满当当的人有条不紊的朝着同样的方向流动。我身在其中,忽然觉得很失落,我的行动完全是被裹挟在人潮当中,没有办法选择自己的方向。回来之后我就开始构思作品,我的作品当中给人物设计了不同的动作和状态,有些在浪潮里面很享受,有些奋力抗争,有些则迷茫犹豫,被浪潮卷到最高处的人下一秒就会跌落,像潮汐的海水,循环往复。

This piece’s inspiration came from my day-to-day life in Beijing after I have been living and studying for many years. This mega city almost reaches its full capacity of population.

Once I took the subway at the rush hours, hundreds of passengers crowded into a narrow transit channel towards the same direction. I was one of them and was forced to follow the crowd. There was no way to get myself out of this crowd to choose my own direction. After I was back home, I started thinking of creating this piece ‘Wave’. I created a huge crowd swimming altogether towards the same direction by following the wave in my work. In the crowd, you can find some are enjoying the wave, some are struggling, some are lost and hesitating, some are very scared of falling off from the top of the wave.

5. 本次展览中的“要有光”系列的视觉效果犹如X光透视片,这样的创作手法其他艺术家也曾使用过,能告诉我们你的“要有光”系列在创作上有何独特之处?你想通过这个系列表达些什么?

Your Need Lights series look like X-ray films. Some other artists also used this idea in their artworks. So whats the uniqueness of your art creation of Need Lights series? What messages behind its visual image you want to convey?

X光是我儿时的视觉印象,小时候经常去妈妈的医院玩,会看到一块发光的墙,透出幽幽蓝光,展示那些平时看不到的,存在于每个人身体里面的结构。我的这系列作品,和绢面作品多层的尝试是互补的,用多层剪纸的办法构成画面,受到套色版画的启发,每一层剪纸的形状都是抽象的,而每一层的形状都对其他层有影响,罗列在一起组成了最终的形象,是单纯的绘画达不到的效果。X光作为医疗手段,呈现的是人体内部的结构,我的作品也是从这点出发,透视的是人情绪中隐秘的不为人知的一面。

My mother is a nurse working for a hospital. I used to go to my mother’s office in the hospital when I was young. I found this secret room with blue light showing the inner structure and the bones of our body, which I had never seen before. “Need Lights” series were inspired by my visual experience during my childhood. This series is the supplementary of my artworks on silk.

I used paper-cutting to build up the images and I was inspired by the techniques of silkscreen printing. The forms of each layer of paper-cutting are abstract, yet each layer influences other layers. I overlapped all the images together to create a visual effect that are impossible to be shown by any drawings.

X-ray as a medical approach can penetrate human’s bodies, my “Need Lights” series based on this idea, it can penetrate the invisible emotions and secrets in couple’s relationship in real life.

6. 作为一名艺术硕士生,请问在三年的研究生学习生涯中,你学到的最重要的是什么?这对你今后的艺术创作有没有产生任何影响?

As a young artist with a master degree in fine arts, what the most important things you learnt during your 3 years of academic study?

研究生的三年是我明确方向,创作爆发的三年,感谢王克举我的导师,在王老师写生课中,我第一次尝试用绢去画盆中景系列,得到了老师的肯定,也走上了不断尝试的道路;同时王老师开设的西方构图分析课,用抽象的结构线分析经典绘画的构图,我的画面安排深受影响;观察方法和独立创作的能力也是在学习中慢慢培养起来的,这种能力支撑我不断审视自己的创作。我也感谢闫平老师,闫老师强调要保持敏感,和创作的感性冲动,更重要的是理性规划自己的艺术生涯。良师亦是益友,是我生活和艺术创作上的榜样。

3 years of my postgraduate study has led me to a clear direction. Most of my artworks were created during these 3 years. I was very lucky to meet a number of excellent lectors as well as my tutor, such as Professor Wang Keju and Yan Ping. I learnt different important things from them. Apart from the academic skills, they encouraged me to observe, to be independent, to be sensitive, to be passionate about art creation. They are my good examples and I am so grateful to them for being my guide in life.

7. 你接下来的创作方向是什么?作品会更关注于哪方面?

What’s thenext step and focus of your art creation in the future?

在未来我还是要继续一段时间绢面的绘画,还有很多可能性等待被尝试,我还会继续关注人性和两性的关系,将自己理解和观察到的进一步深化,期待未来的作品。

I will be continuing my work on silk and will focus on the relationship between male and female. I am excited about trying more possibilities in my new artworks!