Question: Which interpretation(s) of the artist’s work (or from the curatorial text) do you agree/disagree with? You may use any of the sources to support your answer. Do give reference to the painting-use of compostition, colour, brushstrokes and principles of art (Emphasis, Focal Point, Unity, Rythm, Balance.)
I agree with the artist’s interpretation that as globalization takes place in China, there is also something happening to the people of China, whether it is the looks, values or beliefs. When the viewers first look at the artist’s paintings, what captures them first is the close-up of the faces of the women, then the use of acidic colours like red and green. The close-up emphasizes on the features of the modern women, and all the portraits occupy at least two-third of the canvas. The contrasting combination of the colour red and green makes one’s eyes glued onto the image. Brushstrokes are carefully blended and almost invisible. It is easy to get captivated by the strong, bold use of colours and the size of the paintings.
All the portraits of the women are expressionless. And their facial features, especially the cheekbones and eyes, are those typical of a Chinese woman. However on a closer inspection, there is something different about them as compared to traditional Chinese women.
First, there is a halo of light around each of the portraits. This gives them a modern feeling, like the neon lights. The use of reds, blues and greens through out his portraits also suggests the eye-catching colours of neon signboards to attract people’s attention.
Second, the bold and unusual colours used for the hair colour of the women also show the trend of the modern people nowadays: dyeing their hair in all sorts of colours. For a woman with strong traditional beliefs, she will keep her hair colour as it is from the time of birth, as traditionally the Chinese believe that we should thank our parents for bringing us to the world and be grateful for them giving us our life and body. However, as a trend today, more and more Chinese women are going to surgery to try to enhance their features or body figures. They all seem to be discontented with their eyelids, nose, cheekbones and every single part of their body. Lyrics from the song 《外面》“我出去会变得可爱 外面的机会来得很快”indicates that people will have better chances if they are good looking, and this explains why people are busy trying to look better, whether it is through surgery or dying of hair.
All of the women have blank expressions, partly because we cannot see their eyes. The artist has deliberately painted in such a way that the eyes are rolling away, not seeing the things in front of them. This is a constant feature through out all his portraits of young women. This may be metaphor that nowadays the modern and trendy young generation in China has lost their ability to see clearly what is in front and around them, only blindly pursuing the fashionable and popular things.
Refering to the lyrics from 《外面》again, the lyrics repeatedly indicates that the outside world is much better and more exciting, and that staying here will not have a bright future: “外面的世界很精彩…留在这里我看不到现在”. This may refer to the mindset of the younger generation nowadays of their country. The globalization of China has opened up the country to the world. As a result, the people in China are more connected to the outside world. The outside world in the lyrics may refer to the western countries or other countries other than China. The younger generation believes that the world outside China is more exciting and full of opportunities, and so they all want to leave China in search of a better place. However, they do not see the things that are around them which are valuable and cannot be found in the outside world. This is perhaps the reason why the artist paints the eyes in such a manner.
The artist tries to capture the realistic image of the younger generation of China through his portraits of young and modern women. His way of interpretation is a new and insightful approach to such subjects.
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