Xiaojing Yan

Mar 5, 2010

Topic: Featured | Tags: , ,


Xiaojing Yan is just one of the great artists emerging out of Toronto and seeking her place in the East Coast arts community. She’s a go-getter, barely of age, exhibiting in China, Indiana PA, Ottawa and Toronto, and quite serious about the prospect of being a full time creative. Her broad range of materials leads me to believe that it could only be a lack of space or time that could stop her from unleashing her imagination, I’ll bet she takes on challenges of ‘can you make something with material x’ with grace and ease. Her technical abilities leave me longing for contact from artists in our Canadian Sister City.

What brought you to Toronto?
It was a long story. Basically, I left china to see what’s outside there. And I was hoping for greater creation freedom. Toronto is a city embracing diversity. I felt it’s an environment that I am looking for.

How was your experience with the arts program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania?
It was a very good program. I was awarded the Graduate Assistantship. I worked 20 hour per week helping in teaching, studio maintaining, university museum and a lot of different things. It was a very good experience.

Do you use your thoughts as inspiration, or your experiences?
I use my both my thoughts and my experiences. For me, I don’t think they can be separated. Without the experience of living in different cultures, my work would be totally different. I always believe our works tell about who we are, and what we have experienced.

You’ve worked with a broad range of materials – from film to reed to wax – what medium did you first begin to create art in and what made you want to progress into others?
I like using a wide range of materials. I believe that material can speak. Choosing my materials is like choosing the right words from my intertwined Chinese and English vocabularies to express my thoughts. I come up with different idea for each project; I choose different material to best express my thoughts. For instance, I experience contradictions between Chinese and North American cultures; I seek contradictions in my materials. Wax and fabric are warm and soft, while metal clips and Plexiglas are cold and sharp.

Is it difficult to switch from a soft medium like fabric to a hard medium like metal?
Technically I would say yes. Every time when come to a new material, I need to learn how to work with it. Sometime, I took workshops to learn. I had to give up a lot of ideas, because I couldn’t figure out the technical part.

Tell me a little about the juxtapositions in your work.
I juxtapose texture with repetition, and find this is reassuring and mysterious. I like to use symmetry and repetitions in my work. For me symmetry and repetition create tranquility; however, behind this tranquility there are my struggles, conflicts, anxieties and wandering. Therefore, juxtaposing texture with repetition lets me communicate more information than the forms by themselves. Repeating a pattern, such as a cloud or a bell, allows the view to perceive the repetition of the series, the trend of development, the line of motion, and the sequence of information repeated and repeated.

Do you plan to return to China?
I visit China very often. I had a solo exhibition several months ago in China. I’m scheduling another one now.

Are you more interested in exhibiting to an American audience or Chinese?
’m interested in exhibiting to audiences from every cultural background. I create art at the intersection of two cultures. I use art as a language to communicate with people. Certainly, there have been different responses from people from different cultural backgrounds. For instance, the work Guanyin, Struggling Transformation, I applied fabric hardener to the red synthetic thread normally used for creating the tassels on Chinese lanterns and fans to form a body of Guanyin a Chinese Goddess. Chinese audience knows more about the origins of materials and icons I used. People from North American are more interested in how I reinterpret the tradition in a contemporary context.

Who do you think is more receptive of your work?
It’s hard to say. It’s my desire to encourage cross-cultural understanding by using art as a language. I create works that bring traditional techniques and iconography into a western contemporary context. Whether the view is from China or North America, he/she will find something comfortable to look at. For those who have the similar experiences as my probably will read more in-depth in my art.

Have you sold a lot / Who primarily seeks to buy from you?
I have sold some work, but not a lot.

I personally love Cloudscape. Do you have a favorite?
I started every project because I loved the project. In a sense, everyone was, is, my favorite project. When the work is finished, I always can find there is something I’m not quite satisfied with. That is why I keep making to solve the problem in the next project.

Do you have an upcoming exhibit?
Yes, my solo exhibition “shells, Cocoons and Clouds” will be present at IndexG gallery in Toronto.

Info on that show:
3/17/2010 – 4/18/2010
INDEXG
50 Gladstone Avenue, Toronto
Opening Reception is Saturday, March 20, 2-6 PM

Where would you love to show?
I’m very open about where to show my work. I was in the City on the Move program organized by Toronto Cultural Services. My work was shown at subway stations. I’m writing a proposal for a public art project. I don’t want to limit my work only in galleries. I think art should be everywhere in our life.

For more info and work: www.yanxiaojing.com

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