Do you find influence from European art history in your work, for example, futurist sculpture or photodynamic experiments?
Do you find influence from European art history in your work, for example, futurist sculpture or photodynamic experiments?
When I do research, I do not limit myself to my own cultural and geographical contexts. I am interested in the art history and folklore of different cultures, among which the history of European art is an important inspiration. For example, the series Sensation is inspired by Italian votive statues, where I materialize fleeting sensations inside the body and bring attention to the very presence of the body in the moment. The work Headwind draws inspiration from Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913) by Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916), as well as Rebellious Slave (1513) by Michelangelo (1475-1564) to visualize a momentary state of the body that is charged with a strong sense of movement and tension.
Is the force you imagine acting on the sculptures due to endogenous or exogenous movement? In particular Headwind what pull does it manifest?
What drives me to make works is an interplay of internal and external worlds, which are hard to talk about as separate entities. Essentially, Headwind captures the will to break free from the restraints of its own weight and the seemingly overpowering external force. It visualizes a gesture of seeking changes and allows for diverse, open-ended interpretations.
You have an undeniable attraction related to puppets and anatomical studies. Where does your interest in wooden puppets come from?
There has been nothing in my life experience that has pointed directly to puppetry as a path, and the decision to study puppetry was an unexpected one. Perhaps it can be traced back to the first puppet show I ever saw, Pierrot by Philippe Genty (1938). During the play, I felt a mixture of unfamiliarity and bizarreness, passivity and desire, elegance, and fatalism. These mixed feelings conjured by puppetry inspired my work not only on the level of physical structures but also on a metaphysical level, which is in line with my life experience and personality.
In your works, you investigate movement and the forces of change that pervade the human figure. What is the origin of this need?
I believe that physical gestures can reflect psychological activities. By this logic, extreme bodily gestures often stem from strong feelings and emotions. Puppets are simplified versions of humans. Like human beings, puppets have limits in their joints. Therefore, in my sculptures, I use the restraints and counterbalance of the forces between joints – commonly deemed a “limitation” for humans – to grant the humanoid sculptures the “freedom” to stand.
Does the viewer perceive themselves as a voyeur, or is there a complex interplay between censorship and sexual exhibitionism in your work?
I have no interest in fetishism, rather I depict the body in its natural nudity as a metaphor for pure perceptions of the mind. It is true that there have been viewers who made comments that my work is erotic, but in fact, I hardly ever make works from a sexual point of view. Perhaps this comment can lead to interesting questions about where the boundaries between eroticism and non-eroticism lie in the general social perception of the body. What artwork triggers censorship in today’s society and what doesn’t? Who defines the criteria of censorship? Do these criteria adapt to geographic and cultural contexts?