1. Can you please simply describe your childhood? Where did you grow up? Does your childhood relate to your later art creation?
I grew up in Shiping, Jiling province, a city famous for a battle during World War II. I had not stayed there until I attended college. I was influenced by my father, who liked art very much. So when I was young, I was trained to paint and attended art classes. I have loved art since I was little.
2. Where did you attend The Central Academy of Fine Arts? Whom did you study with? How did you benefit from your training at the high school and the college?
I jointed the fourth artist studio at the academy, in which my teachers, such as Yuan Yunsheng, Ge Pengren, Wang Xuping, Liu Gang, and Ma Lu, encouraged their students to experiment with creative ways of thinking and allowed us to find our own ways to create. My training during this period of time influenced me a lot.
3. After graduating from college in 1997, you lived and worked in Tongxian, an area where numerous artists gathered and worked. Did you benefit from working in such an area? What kinds of works did you create during that period?
started to keep in contact with contemporary art to understand the life and creative status of being a professional artist. For me, I would rather become independent. During this period of time, I worked primarily with my meat series.
4. Can you please simply describe your early works on the theme of meat? When were they shown at the Chengdu Biennial? How did audiences and critics respond to the works? How do they relate to the works you created during your Tongxian period?
I started to paint them in 1999, two years after I graduated from college. I selected meat as the major motif for my creation. I selected the method of drawing to depict the motif, focusing on the color, shape, and quality of meat. In 2001, the series was invited to be shown at the Chengdu Biennale and received very positive responses from the audiences and critics.
5. During the years that immediately followed your graduation from college, contemporary Chinese art developed rapidly. This force gave birth to a few specific art styles. Was your creation influenced by this force as well? How did you survive this force?
For certain artists, this force attracted them very much and influenced their creation. I was not against this method of creation. But for me, I instead discover a more creative and original way of creation.
6. From the Chengdu Biennale in 2001 to your solo exhibition at M Gallery in 2007, you have rarely shown your works. Why did you rarely show your works? During this period, what was your creative status?
On the one hand, this was determined by the major trend of reconsidering the function of painting, because after 2000 some critics questioned the existence of painting. As a result, some successful painters started to create sculptures. On the other hand, this was a result of my discovery of a new way of painting, a more creative and original way, as I mentioned above. Looking back to this period of time now, I've suddenly realized that this search has taken a very long time to accomplish.
7. What kinds of works were you working with during this period of time?
Since 2001, I've tried to find a method to explore space. I tried to explore a board motif and the freedom to paint. During this period, I lived in a very quiet and private way, which made me create a series of painting called "diary." (The other reason was that my mother bought me a pile of canvases and I considered how to use them.)
I used "diary" as self-reflection to see myself through art, rather than merely recording the details of my daily activities. And "daily" is a form of continuity, the process of recording the process of my paintings. The purpose of this is not just a kind of Zen practice. I used the format of the scroll often used in Chinese painting to show my "diary." The scroll includes numerous images that are related to me or are irrelevant, such as my nude body against sunshine, raffish icons, flowers and trees, violent images, ambiguous images, and so on. I called this "diary" "a juvenile garden" because it records my youth.
During that period, my workload was very heavy; I needed a form to release it.
To a certain degree, "diary" is related to the method of drawing I used for my meat series. I cannot give the meat series away.
8. You have worked primarily with the medium of oil painting. And I know that you had created several works with mixed media. Can you please describe these works? I also want to know how you understand the development of oil painting in China, and why you work primarily with this medium.
During my college training, I had already experimented with mixed media. The experimentation workload was pretty heavy because I needed to deal with different kinds of materials such as pitch, paraffin, hair, linoleum, and concrete. I needed to work overnight because the paintings were very large. I was influenced by Anselm Kiefer and Antoni Tapies. I left Joseph Beuys' biography rather than Vincent van Gogh's diary at my pillow from that time on. I showed these works as a solo exhibition at the National Museum of China and received positive responses from the critics. After, I created an installation and showed it in an exhibition. Thus, this work was invited to be shown at the "Second Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition." For me, this was a period of experimentation with mixed media. I was exploited by the experimentation with the search for numerous media, and I demanded a slower path for creation. Thus, I think that I belonged to oil painting even though there were so many good oil painters before me.
9. For me, your paintings reflect that you are very concerned with the concepts and skills you learned from the academy. For most contemporary Chinese artists, they are already out of date. What do you think about their views? And how did you absorb and develop the academic skills?
As I mentioned earlier, I always try to find the most appropriate way of painting for me. So far, I think that the use of academic concepts and skills is the one.
10. Can you please give me an example of how you create your paintings, from selecting a theme, to creating a concept, to your creative process?
On the one hand, I explore the language of art, such as signs and symbols for paintings, which broadens the horizon of the motif and gives me more freedom to paint. On the other hand, I have a strategy in selecting a motif and in painting my works.
11. How did you select the sizes and titles of your works? Did you usually title the works before you paint, or do you usually paint based on the themes of the works?
I determined the size of my paintings based on the paintings themselves, rather than a specific standard. Because I paint based on my plans, for me, a painting is named after its completion.
12. After I saw your recent paintings, I realized that you had made a big change in your creative skills. Why did you change? When did it happen?
I tried to discover broader meanings of meat through different sources of images. From my recent works, I realize that the joy of painting reflects upon the painter's heart. I discovered that the transfiguration creates visual illusion and expresses a sense of humor. Thus, how to paint and what to paint become less important.
13. We all know that you have been famous for your meat paintings. In your recent paintings, this motif appears again. Thus, meat is a very important and consistent motif in your works. What do you think about this motif? Why do you keep working with it? What is the difference between your early and recent meat paintings?
For a long time, I had been bothered by the problems of art language and styles, as though I need to paint based on certain rules or standards. My training at the college made me keep certain principles for creation. In this process, I discovered that meat is a good motif for me to solve those problems. For me, to paint meat is nothing to do with painting a human being, which inspires me to think about life. I feel so consoled and calmed when I paint meat.
When audiences and critics responded positively to my meat paintings, I felt afraid that I would fellow another principle.
I selected meat because it looks beautiful to me.
I used the method of drawing to depict meat, and I felt love in it. I felt confident that I was skilled at painting it.
I needed to broaden the motif of meat, to find a way to expand it.
14. How did you select "The Foolish Old Man Removing the Mountains" for your themes? Do you plan to continue this series painting?
In my recent works, I find a home for my soul, or a self-reflection. This results from my background related to a primitive and rich life. In the series painting of "The Foolish Old Man Removing the Mountains," I depict a working environment through symbols to show the determination of life and creativity. By using this famous story, my paintings ask the audience to search for the power of this determination.
I am very satisfied with the fusion of the language of meat and the concept of the story it conveys.
15. What kind of plans are you working on for the future?
I will continue the series of paintings shown at this exhibition.