Because I launched my career by publishing woodblock prints in Yunnan, a rural mountainous region close to Tibet, my identity as a self-appointed artist helped me understand my locations and address urgent issues both inside and outside the studio. My fascination with productivity and expertise has opened multiple doors to combine discipline and freedom. As a result, a re-framing of the notion of “labor” informs my current practice: I am interested in the speed of artistic creation in terms of the expansion of concept and the engagement with time. More precisely, I aspire to unpack conditions of art-making, advocating the instability of my body as I incorporate movements in my drawings, the unconventional sites of creation as I dry vegetable-tanned leather al fresco, and the insignificant yet irreplaceable devices like push-pins as I diversify their functions for my sculpture. My work attempts to call attention to a fluid interpretation of artist responsibilities.
Additionally, I am interested in situating my practice globally as a Chinese artist in the United States. Recent artistic and scholarly projects examine the Shanghai Biennale in 2000, for example, the first international art showcase in a state-sponsored Chinese museum as both history and the present tense. My creation of paintings and drawings specifically highlight how I as a Chinese artist analyze this opening episode of Chinese contemporary art and its potential ramifications merely 22 years later. Another research project I currently pursue, which is printmaking-specific, relates to the international programs of Crown Point Press in the 1980s. As American artists such as Sol LeWitt, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, and Pat Steir produced woodblock prints with printers in China and Japan, I could not stop contemplating the juxtaposition of “America” and “elsewhere.” Although both stints folded in the beginning of 1990s, I wonder how I can scrutinize this history not only in the U.S.-American context but also for the purpose of enriching Chinese and Japanese art history. In 2019, I traveled as an artist to both Crown Point Press in San Francisco and the Japanese foundation in Kawaguchi-ko which served as an extension of Crown Point Press’s legacy. Witnessing so much history packed in a one single space was truly eye-opening and inviting. I am fascinated by the depth of archival materials and hope to offer my critical engagement through art- and exhibition-making in the near future.
宁为太平狗, 莫做离乱人;
轻风不识字, 何必乱翻书.
Additionally, I am interested in situating my practice globally as a Chinese artist in the United States. Recent artistic and scholarly projects examine the Shanghai Biennale in 2000, for example, the first international art showcase in a state-sponsored Chinese museum as both history and the present tense. My creation of paintings and drawings specifically highlight how I as a Chinese artist analyze this opening episode of Chinese contemporary art and its potential ramifications merely 22 years later. Another research project I currently pursue, which is printmaking-specific, relates to the international programs of Crown Point Press in the 1980s. As American artists such as Sol LeWitt, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, and Pat Steir produced woodblock prints with printers in China and Japan, I could not stop contemplating the juxtaposition of “America” and “elsewhere.” Although both stints folded in the beginning of 1990s, I wonder how I can scrutinize this history not only in the U.S.-American context but also for the purpose of enriching Chinese and Japanese art history. In 2019, I traveled as an artist to both Crown Point Press in San Francisco and the Japanese foundation in Kawaguchi-ko which served as an extension of Crown Point Press’s legacy. Witnessing so much history packed in a one single space was truly eye-opening and inviting. I am fascinated by the depth of archival materials and hope to offer my critical engagement through art- and exhibition-making in the near future.
宁为太平狗, 莫做离乱人;
轻风不识字, 何必乱翻书.
