4 Profile


traditional art ‘database’ and the European art ‘database’. I can freely adapt them within my own expression and eventually they become my own language.


AAN: When you say words, you mean topics and themes? NY: I am referring to the topics in the paintings, but also to the way of using brushstrokes, the way of painting and how to deal with different materials: it is an all- inclusive approach. I would define it in two ways: first, there is a subject (literary words allow you to give the painting a narrative when you see it and what you see in it). Ten, there is also a visual language and visual words allowing you to get something more emotional from it.


AAN: Today, with everything being so fast (one looks at an image for a second before moving on to the next), how are you trying to capture the viewer’s attention, making sure people understand the essence of what you are trying to do? NY: I do very different types of work, which makes my practice quite complex. From the surface, some of my works tend to feature an oriental style, like the golden forest with trees. However, what I am interested to find out is how people will experience the piece from the distance, as from that perspective, it is indeed a very oriental forest through its use of symbols and expressions. Studying the piece up-close alters that first impression: the closer you look, the more you get a sense of the traces that remain on the painting, following the washing away process along with the brushstrokes that are left on the canvas that provide yet another layer of expression. With some of my paintings, you


cannot tell from the surface if the piece was completed by a Chinese, an Indian, or say an American artist, which is precisely my intention. My dust paintings, for example, are based on documentation from various cultures and civilisations, reflecting a general fascination with the sky, space and its galaxies. I wanted to complete a work based on very European-style research, or adopting a European image whilst following a Chinese way of working. In the end, you can still feel a kind of accent, similarly to when speaking a language: you still maintain the local accent showing where you originally came from. Especially in this series, you can find some dust paintings that were made in accordance to Tomas Ruff’s photographs on the galaxy. Looking at the image itself, my piece looks exactly the same, but the way of working and the logic behind the image are completely different. In general, and as a visual artist, I


prefer not to use too much text to explain, or to interpret, the artwork in order to help people understand it. Te ideal situation I am looking for is that people have various information at their disposal to further investigate the work from all different perspectives: some people may just be interested in the surface of the image of the galaxy, others may want to read the piece conceptually, while some viewers may want to explore the work from a different angle all together. Considering all these different ways to approach a piece, it is in my opinion that it is also essential that the art work be visually attractive.


AAN: Some of the galaxy dust paintings have a German title written on them. Why is that?


ASIAN ART NOVEMBER 2017


NY: Te dust painting series was based on my collection of images of galaxies, some from Tomas Ruff, some from old encyclopaedia, etc. In general, they are images that observed the same sky. To me, the source is not important, but what is relevant is that there are all these kinds of images solely about the galaxy. Te image featuring a title in German is in reference to a print from a German encyclopaedia.


AAN: It seems that you are trying to avoid using straight and solid lines within your paintings. Why? NY: First of all, I am a very sceptical person, and in my work, I prefer to go against the current by using something that is no longer trendy, something where people ignore the value or something that used to be popular, but is not anymore. I see the value of such features and I am happy to reuse and to re-explore their aesthetic. For the dust paintings, for example, I am questioning the material used for the artwork per se: traditionally, we generally associate the material for a work of art with something expensive and valuable. Taking the opposite approach is Arte Povera, as well as other movements, but they are not poor enough for me. In my opinion, the poorest and the cheapest materials are air and dust. Te material is the first point I am questioning. Secondly, I am wondering and questioning the equation stating that in all ancient philosophies, the poorest and most minimal things are equal to the greatest and grandest things. Tirdly, collectors, galleries, and museums are always paying a lot of attention as how to stabalise an artwork, to keep it as it is, but in terms of conservation, it is physically impossible. Everything is perpetually changing and that is what I am trying to achieve with my dust paintings: in general, they remain stable because all the dots, the white chalks are perfectly adjusted on the blackboard. However, we can imagine the dust glued to the blackboard and still slightly deteriorating, as dust from the air is being attracted and stuck to the blackboard. On a level that we can neither see nor appreciate, the dots are changing as do actual galaxies. As for oil paintings, we know they are getting slightly more cracks with every passing second. Even if we cannot acknowledge it, day after day, we know these paintings will change over time. In the dust paintings, I want to make the process of change visible so we can acknowledge it. An art work is alive, is breathing and therefore, it is changing over time.


AAN: With regard to your dust galaxy paintings, you mentioned earlier the word ‘obsession’. Are you indeed obsessed by the sky, the galaxies, by astronomy in general, or is it just a general interest? NY: To me, the galaxy is the greatest abstract art work of all. Tere are still many things to be discovered as there is no tangible truth, which leaves us with an unsolved mystery. To me, that is the essence of abstract art. For photographers, capturing an image of the galaxy is something that takes one second and they can take several photos each night. To me, the galaxy is the ultimate form of art. It is something to worship and it is like an icon. Tat is why I used a different way to make a photograph of the galaxy. I spent approximately 300 hours on each galaxy dust painting. You can recognise the grids on the prints, which is how I mark out the position of each star to make an exact


perhaps at the end the drawing does not look like them at all, as my work is driven by my memory, or by my feelings towards that person. What I am trying to accomplish is different from outdoor painters completing their piece in the forest en plein air, or the ones working exclusively from a photograph. What I want to capture and experiment with is the space between realism and abstract art: there is a space in between that I am extremely interested in and that also belongs to a certain tradition in Chinese painting.


Te Endless Second No.7 (2016/2017), drawn on Hahnemühle paper, stone, 236 x 96 x 4.5 cm. Images courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels


copy of a photo, or of a print. First, I have to make grids on the prints and make the same grids according to the sky on the blackboards and then, pinpoint the stars based on the location. It is really a ritual involving a slow process for making the image.


ANN: Are you also working with photography for your other series involving landscapes or trees? NY: I make my landscape and tree paintings based on my visual memory, even if it happens to be a visual memory of a photograph. It is very important for me to only work according to my visual memory and never according to a photograph. Even if I have a specific memory for certain kinds of trees or forests, ultimately, when I draw them out, they will be different from the original tree, or the original forest as emotional, or sentimental factors, come into play, especially in relation to the details. It is similar to making a drawing of a good friend, or of people with whom I am familiar:


TO ME THE GALAXY IS THE GREATEST


ABSTRACT ART WORK OF ALL. IT LEAVES US WITH AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY


AAN: Is there an element of chance that you keep in that ‘in between’ space? NY: Yes, there is a certain element of chance. Chance exists at two levels: one in the golden paintings with the wash-away process. Tat process is not fully controllable in relation to what will be washed away and how much will remain, which in a way is what is ‘naturally’ left on it. Te other chance factor is the image itself, because when I am reviewing the memory of the forest, or the tree, in my mind, what I have today or this second will perhaps be different from the next second. Troughout the whole process of making the painting that lasts one or two months, it is about polishing the visual memory of the image that I have in my mind.


AAN: You referred very briefly to the washing-off process you are using in your paintings. It is a very unusual process and unless you know about it, it is difficult to understand how the paintings are created. NY: Te process actually started by chance. I was trying to wash away a section of a painting that did not meet my expectations. Ten, I found out that one could not clean out the piece as it was made with acrylic. While I was trying to wash out a specific part, what remained after using the water looked very interesting. Ten, I started to work on that technique and it took me two to three years to properly master it. Today, my technique consists of making one layer of the drawing and washing it away, as well as washing part of the lines away in order to remake the drawing with acrylic. It is very much a repetitive process of washing away and repainting, washing away and repainting. One can compare the result to the traces left by the weather on old buildings, a process which is only half controllable, the rest being hazard or chance. Te process is also based on my interest and the education I received in traditional Chinese painting. I personally prefer traces that draw towards art history rather than the fresh and shiny aspect which always comes with acrylic.


AAN: In the traditional shan shuei paintings, the water is, of course, present. In your work, water is present in a different form, even if not visually. NY: Tat is a very interesting reference. I studied shan shuei painting, and my work bears not only some resemblance, but also differences, to these traditional paintings. Te resemblance lies in my being so used to water-based ink that initially, even before developing the water-washed paintings, I relied on acrylic which is more water-based. Te difference, which is especially visible in the golden paintings, is that the middle part or the content has been normally washed away while the acrylic contour on the painting has been kept. Tat means that the painting is a result of an addition of the traces to the water, which is really unusual in traditional art. On top of that, traditional art is exclusively based on additions, only adding things to the painting rather than making subtractions. In my case, it is a repetitive process of adding and subtracting, of adding again, and again, instead of relentlessly taking something away. Only in traditional woodcut would there be a subtraction.


AAN: Tere is no human presence in your paintings. Why is that? NY: When I was a student, I was quite interested in painting human figures, but when I became an artist, I preferred to focus on a broad view of the landscape. Adding human presence to the landscape immediately gives an impression about that specific person, about what that person is doing, whether the person is upset, or shows any emotion, with the result that it is giving out a reference. By addressing the landscape by itself, it looks like a neutral and very objective view of the site. However, a good artist can include a layer of emotion and feeling through the brushstrokes or through the details in the painting. In that case, the viewer can get a feel of the person behind the painting rather than the person in the painting. Such is the case with Anselm Kiefer, whose work I like a lot: one cannot find a person or some story in the painting, but one can feel something from the painting itself which offers a wider range of information than any human presence in the work. In that sense, it is turning more into abstract art rather than being a very narrative piece.


AAN: You made a reference to Song-dynasty paintings. Paintings of that period were completed according to very strict codes. When working on a piece that may look like a traditional Chinese landscape, are you complying with these codes, or would a traditional Chinese audience be horrified at the way you completed your piece? NY: My pieces do feel similar to Song-dynasty paintings, or traditional art. Within traditional art, I distinguish two areas, one is the form (the general appearance) and the other one is the spiritual part (the general feeling, or the meaning). What is interesting to me is how to keep or inherit the spirit and the essence of traditional painting rather than the form itself. If you observe the details in my work, you will come to the conclusion that my art has nothing to do with traditional art although it shares the same spirit. Te importance of the spirit of Song-dynasty painting remains visible today and can be compared in Europe to the significance of Mediaeval art.


Dust (Tomas Ruff: 15h 24m-25°), 2017, mixed techniques on wood panels and sketches on paper, 37.8 x 55.3 x 2.8 cm and 193.5 x 282 x 14 cm


AAN: Do all the various media you work with complement one another Continued on page 6


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24