Carroll Gallery, Tulane University
New Orleans, LA
May, 2018
Artist’s Statement
My art works do not share a common theme, but they essentially are all about me. I try to experiment with different mediums to “record” my interests and thoughts. The astronaut series of etchings started off when I used astronaut as a reference to myself in a self-allegory assignment. Being in the space alone reconcile with the detachment I have always felt and sometimes secretly enjoyed. I loved basketball and seriously tried to train myself to become a professional player but then only realized that I can never be good enough. And collecting sneakers was the “buy” one gets one free passion came along with basketball. All the astronauts in this series are based on pictures of famous NBA players. The iconic sneakers that they are wearing are hints to their identities.
In the paintings, I indulge myself to only focus on doing what I enjoy the most and temporarily ignoring the rest. The contents are most ubiquitous geometric patterns—stripe and chevron. The process of making these paintings is my main concentration. The repetitive movement, the constant attention to detail, and the accuracy required for each stroke—these “boring” things satisfy and becalm my anxious mind. I have been struggling to find out what type of paintings I want to make, but never settled on an answer. I don’t know if I can ever be happy with my own work. Therefore, in these paintings, I let my intuition to decide what I paint. The meditative process of making these paintings matters more to me than the content I paint. The evidences of human touch and the little imperfections are clues unveiling the struggle of making these pieces.
Since I constantly deny and question myself, I never truly enjoyed much of my work—therefore, I change to try something else but only disappoint myself even more. But, I do always enjoy the process of making my art, which brings me into the tranquil state of mind that I normally couldn’t reach.
