Lifestyle, fashion, culture through still lifes

Art lovers tend to associate a still life with a painting technique or a cluster of silent objects.

However, for artist Wang Yuhong, a still life is not merely about an object, but rather about tracking the lifestyle and fashion of a certain generation or even the artistic and cultural vestiges in history.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the 48-year-old artist has spent most of her time painting in her studio. She donated one of her canvases to “Stand Together,” an online charity auction aimed to provide epidemic prevention supplies for children in the virus-hit areas.

“It was too trivial to mention,” she said. “How powerless and fragile human beings are under such a situation, let alone art.”

Born in Shanghai, Wang is a sculpture graduate of the prestigious China Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. Her still-life objects of bamboo, blue-and-white porcelain, vintage comic books and other memorabilia brought her early fame as she set out on her career as an artist.

Her works have been widely exhibited in Europe and the United States, while her paintings have been collected by the Shanghai Art Museum, the Liu Haisu Art Museum and private collectors around the world.

These days, against the background of an explosion of information and visual images, still-life paintings may seem a cliche in many people’s eyes.

“For me, the objects I paint are timeless,” she said. “Looking at a still life is to awaken the eyes of our own soul. It often takes me several hours to arrange a still life.

The still-life object under Wang’s brushstrokes is a combination of realistic, implication and illusion. They are inter-related with each other to convey a humanistic spirit.

“A slightly different angle or position creates an entirely different feeling. Objects may seem unrelated, but there’s an underlying relationship between things that emerge through artful arrangement,” said the 48-year-old.

Wang is quite prolific in creating a group of series in her depiction of porcelain, varying from blue-and-white porcelain to famille-rose porcelain.

“I know many people like the porcelain I paint,” said Wang, who started to paint porcelain on canvas in the 1990s. “But I am not simply copying what is in front of me. I ‘dive’ into the history of Chinese porcelain. There is so much to learn and to worship.”

Those randomly scattered objects in her canvas is the outcome of profound thinking and an intricate selection within a hidden relationship that might only be interpreted by the artist herself.

Wang said she had scheduled a solo exhibition in October, but due to the epidemic situation, everything is pending.

Different from her peers, Wang doesn’t like hanging around over exhibition openings or social gatherings. She prefers a quiet and peaceful life staying at her studio. Whenever she has time, she reads a lot.

“If I told you that I was not concerned, I would be lying,” she said. “But there is no ending to anything. Patience and courage are what I have.”

Q: To paint a series of still-life porcelain works, you have studied the blue-and-white porcelain of Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, plus the export porcelain to Europe during the period. What enamors you?

A: For me, it is similar to a hand-made painting. The firing of ceramics is a process of hand-made labor by human beings, but with mud. This is a common form between the two.

Q: You also fused some images found in the Mogao Grottoes in your works. Why?

A: Today nearly everyone knows about “Mona Lisa” and Michelangelo’s figures with his large-scaled mural paintings.

However, the line drawing of figure painting appeared as early as AD 366 in the first caves of Mogao Grottoes, which depicts Buddhist meditation and worship in China. It really opened an unlimited world for the later artists to understand among space, mural painting and sculptures. I prefer to show my respect to the Mogao Grottoes, a climax in China’s art history.

Q: What inspired you to begin your new series titled “The Imperial Palace Collection: Twelve Beauties”?

A: When I studied the porcelain collection in the Palace Museum in Beijing, I found the paintings of “Twelve Beauties.” They were seen either appreciating tea, reading books or capturing butterflies. These scenes actually reveal the noble upper-class family life as well as the cultural beliefs and customs of that time.

I started this series almost four years ago, and now I implemented eight of them. Time is not a question of whether I could finish it in short or not, but rather the purpose of painting. For me, it is not an implementation process, but rather, a process of recognition.

Q: Some say that there is a narrative ambience over your canvas. Do you agree?

A: Still lifes, though mainly about objects, are very different in presentation between the West and East.

For example, the silverware, the pearls, the wine utensils and bread in the Dutch still lifes of the 16th and 17th century render a message of affluence in daily life. Morandi’s still lifes simplifying colors of various utensils are but a sensible expression toward life. Western still life never contains any Chinese character writing.

But you will find Diamond Sutra, an important Buddhist text, which offers Buddha’s insights on dualism and illusion, and “Compendium of Materia Medica, a Chinese herbology volume written by Li Shizhen (circa 1518–93) during the Ming Dynasty, in my paintings.

In my eyes, the Diamond Sutra has the power to soothe the solitary. In using its text, I want that soothing and tranquil power to permeate my work. The “Compendium of Materia Medica” features both text and traditional painting of the Chinese herbs, similar in spirit to Western popular science books, with a very different look.

I have also fused some other objects such as lacquer ware to weather-beaten lamps in my work. These objects are also created by craftsmen. Although they might appear old and out of style, yet they are stamped with some historical traces by those who used them.

On the surface, these objects seem to be randomly chosen, but deep in my heart, they reflect a certain relationship with an on-site scene from a bygone era.

Q: Under the impact of digital revolution, are you willing to cope with the new art trend via your artworks?

A: I am very willing to apply digital technology to my artworks. It is a part of the civilized process for mankind. One could find more space to create on the Internet. It opens an illusionary world with no limit.

Q: What does art mean to you?

A: In my eyes, art belongs to a limited life that goes against the unlimited time, or to be exact, a struggle to “fight with the erosion of time.” Artwork that has been developed to foster dialogue and mutual understanding among people may last a bit longer.