Unit 1
In the study stage of unit 1, my research direction is to explore the daily things around me and the spiritual connotation of objects, so my inspiration comes from my life and is based on reality. My painting not only presents reality, but also be injected some special meaning to show the spiritual connotation of things. The above is also mentioned in my artist statement. However, in my first painting Blue Dream（As shown in figure 1） in this unit, I drew about my dreams, which had a surreal feeling. When I finished this painting, I was satisfied because I had presented and expressed my dream world in a good way, including color, environment, scene, atmosphere and so on. However, I soon realized that the inspiration for creation only comes from dreams, which is limited because I don't dream every day, and dream is a little far away from life. The depiction of dreams is mysterious, and I think that art comes from life, so why can’t I depict things in life and explore the mystery of things inreality? And there are so many things worth exploring and depicting in real life, so I changed my creative direction from exploring dreams to exploring things in reality. The following three works Green, Yellow and Stairs and Dinner are the embodiment of my exploring reality in Unit 1.
Figure 1，Wei Huang，Blue Dream，2021
oil on canvas
Figure 2，Wei Huang，Green, Yellow，2021
oil on canvas
It is not difficult to find that my exploration of daily things is divided into two themes, one is about ordinary objects in my life, and the other is about some special moments in my life. I will depict them and give them special meanings. Green, Yellow and Stair is about ordinary objects and familiar things in my life that I paint. Talking to Green, Yellow (As shown in figure 2) I paint two chairs. I want to express some kind of symbolism and mystery. Perhaps these two chairs represent a couple of lovers, friends and so on. It depends on the audience's understanding. I will not attach a specific meaning to it. I just want to convey the spiritual connotation of things by depicting ordinary things, give them new meanings, to provoke the viewer to think about and pay attention to ordinary things. And for Stair (As shown in figure 3)，it's a staircase in my home that I've depicted, I see it every day,
Figure 3，Wei Huang，Stair，2021
oil on canvas
and it's something I'm particularly familiar with. But sometimes for me, somethings that are very familiar, but I feel strange and mysterious. So I describe it to express this mystery and my contradictory mood. Talking to Dinner (As shown in figure 4), it depicts moments of special significance in life. I depict a scene of a family having dinner. The protagonist of the painting is a little boy. When all the adults are immersed in the dinner, only the little boy noticed me. He raised his head slightly and looked at me with eyes full of curiosity about the world. However, the surrounding adults didn't notice me, they just ate silently, with a sense of numbness and exhaustion. They are in sharp contrast with the little boy.
Figure 3，Wei Huang，Dinner (Unfinished)，2021
oil on canvas
The Spanish magical realism has given me some inspiration, especially the mystery conveyed in the works of realism, rational and rigorous creative methods, and the way and perspective of looking at things, which are helpful to my creation for deeper thinking. The paintings of Antonio Lopez, the representative artist of Spanish magical realism, present not only reality, but also the mysterious and magical side of reality. He can always portray ordinary things in life as extraordinary. (As shown in figure 4)
Figure 4, Antonio Lopez, Conejo Deshollado，1972 Plate Tempera
Antonio Lopez believes that what he sees can be caught, and the more accurately he catches it, the more likely it is to express the intangible reality of the mystery that is not clearly understood. He likes to use the "unfinished style" to make the screen shake and time travel. The calm and subtle family atmosphere full of pictures and the mottled production effect, as a typical feature of Lopez’s artistic language, shows his mastery of materials and his deep attachment to subjects such as family affection and urban landscapes. (As shown in figure 4,5)
Figure 4，Antonio Lopez，The Table，1980
oil on canvas
Figure 5, Antonio Lopez，Atocha，1964
oil on canvas
In addition, I would like to talk about another artist, Gerhard Richter. His series of works on daily objects also inspired me, such as chair series and toilet paper series（As shown in figure 6,7,8），The source photograph of the painting was taken by Richter himself: "This was a chair I owned and photographed. It was part of my search for banal objects – the chair itself, the table, the toilet roll. Although the great majority of the photo-paintings are based on photos which came from outside sources, this was one I took myself."（Richter，1991）The painting Kitchen Chair joins other early works by the artist that take banal everyday objects as subjects, in the tradition of Pop Art.（Gerhard Richter，2020）He expresses the mystery of this everyday object, and he expresses it very well, which is exactly what I want to express and explore.
Figure 6, Gerhard Richter, kitchen Chair, 1965
Oil on Canvas
Figure 7, Gerhard Richter, Small Chair, 1965
Oil on Canvas
Figure 8, Toilet tissue series, 1965
Oil on Canvas
I remember once in tutorial, Geraint recommended an artist Paul Winstanley to me. I think my painting concept is similar to him, which also influenced me and gave me some inspiration. Because in my works, I will also depict some things and scenes around me that I am familiar with or in my memory, such as the stairs (Figure 3). This is a corridor in my home that I depict, a scene I am very familiar with and in my memory. However, no one appears in this scene, and there is a feeling of loneliness and quiet. Similarly, In Paul Winstanley's painting, there is also an empty space scene, no one appears, giving people a sense of loneliness. School Series depicted by Paul (as shown in Figure 9,10)
Figure 9, Art School 32, 2014
Oil on Panel
Figure 10, Art School 38, 2015
Oil on Panel
Throughout the 1990's Winstanley developed an array of related imagery of semi-public, post-war interior spaces; of waiting rooms, lounges, TV rooms, walkways and lobbies; creating a meditation on the utility of English modernism and its concurrent political underpinnings.（(New Media Republic, no date).
Talking about paul winstanley reminds me of another artist Vilhelm Hammershoi, his works are similar to paul winstanley, they both depict some interior spaces, but the difference is that in Vilhelm Hammershoi's paintings, there is often a back figure. , this back is his wife (As shown in figure 11,12). Although Vilhelm Hammershoi is a painter in the 20th century, his works still appear contemporary, both in the composition of the picture and the composition of the colors. The colors he uses are extremely simple and subtle, not very rich colors, and it looks very elegant.He can always describe the ordinary things in life with an extraordinary feeling. He is painting the same subject almost every day, painting his home and wife, but each painting is very touching, which makes me very respected.
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His painting is so quiet that it seems that people can feel the breath of the picture.This reminds me of another painter,Morandi, who has painted bottles and jars for a lifetime, never tired of it, the same subject matter, but each of his works is different and has a different character（Figure 13）. Sometimes I think that being able to paint a subject well or to be able to do one thing well is also a very great thing.
Figure 13, Morandi, Natura morta (Still Life), 1952, Oil on Canvas
Figure 11, Vilhelm, Interior Strandgade,
1901
Oil on canvas
Figure 12, Vilhelm, Ida Reading a Letter,
1899
Oil on canvas
Vilhelm, Door, 1899
Oil on canvas
Vilhelm Hammershoi paints the things around him, his home, his wife (As shown in figure 14)，which are the most familiar, but sometimes the more familiar things, there will be a sense of strangeness and alienation, which is very contradictory. In my painting stairs, I also depict scenes of home in my memory, which should be the most familiar thing to me, but instead makes me feel strange and mysterious. The strangeness conveyed to me in my familiar environment is valuable to me, because it will stimulate my desire to explore and explore the mystery brought by familiar objects or environments around me. Speaking of this, I think of an artist, Pierre Bonnard, who also loves to paint familiar things around him, such as Bonnard painting his wife, painting his plate and kettle, painting the room he lives in. He painted about his memories and memories. I remember reading an article about him a while back that inspired me a little bit, and one of the passages went like this:
“Bonnard often painted his wife, Marthe, in the tub, because she was often in the tub, taking water cures for a lung ailment. His friends blamed her for making him stay at home—she was known to be misanthropic and disliked nearly all of them. But Bonnard preferred being at home with Marthe to being out with his friends, and he used her as an excuse. It seems crucial for his paintings that he spent so much time at home; it is the repetition of being with Marthe and her bathing—the digging-in—that gives his paintings their weight. They contain the banality and the calmness of thinking back on something that was repeated and repeated. They have a certain personal mystery to them.” (Sheila Heti, 2020)
Figure 13, Pierre Bonnard, Nude Crouching in the Bathtub, 1918.
Oil on canvas
Figure 14, Pierre Bonnard, Woman Crouching in a Tub, 1912.
Oil on canvas
It is the repetition of being with Marthe and her bathing—the digging-in—that gives his paintings their weight. For the repeated depiction of the same thing, each time is a different feeling for the artist, and of course the feeling of the picture presentation also Different. It's like watching the same movie, each time you watch it, you get a new understanding.
I usually paint still lifes as people, so I want to analyze Rembrandt's self-portraits, in his later self-portraits, he used space, light and color to depict the profound inner state of the characters, and convey to us the tranquility and mystery of the ultimate place of the human soul (As shown in figure 15). This is the greatest shock to us from his art. His self-portraits in his later years depict himself in the depths of his soul, with profound spiritual connotations. And I think an ordinary object also has its own unique spiritual connotation. Although my creation explores objects in reality, I believe that every object in reality has expressions and souls just like people. I usually draw objects
Figure 15, Rembrandt, Rembrandt as St Paul, 1661, 91x77 cm, Oil on canvas
as people, because people have expressions and emotions, and I want to express the expressions and emotions of objects.
In my painting Green, Yellow (As shown in figure 2), I paint these two chairs as people, I think they are emotional and alive, so this painting has a symbolic meaning, these two chairs may be a couple , or lovers. This is the feeling I want to convey to the audience through my works, expressing the ordinary objects in an unusual way, injecting personal special emotions and meanings, and expressing the spiritual connotation of the objects.
I have seriously reflected on my works at this stage. I think there are both successes and shortcomings. What I think is successful is that my work shows the meaning and emotion I want to express, such as a quiet and mysterious feeling. I think the shapes and colour, as well as the texture of the picture, I am also satisfied with the handling of virtual and real. Most of them are developed in the direction I expected. Of course, there are some shortcomings, because my paintings depict objective things and are realistic, so there is objectivity, but the subjectivity of painting is lacking. I think that some parts of the picture are not subjectively processed. You can be more bold and subjective. For example, some parts of color could be subjectively processed to be brighter, or some places could be painted darker, and the color tones could also be more subjective, or even some new elements can be added. In any case, the ultimate goal is to convey the emotion and effect that I want to express in the picture. I will work hard on the next unit and work hard in this area to achieve a perfect combination of subjective and objective.
Towards the end of unit 1, I will do some thinking about my works on this unit. For example, what would be different if I did it again? What have I learned from this process? I think that for my first painting of unit 1, Blue Dream, if I paint again, I might draw the figure smaller, and the distance between the figure and the mountain will be farther, so that the sense of loneliness will be increased. I will also deal with the blue color more clearly, so that the quiet atmosphere will be more intense. For my second painting Green, Yellow, I think I handled the two chairs a bit evenly. If I paint it again, I think I will distinguish the completion of the two chairs. For example I would make the left chair a little less finished, I mean I could leave some parts of the green chair unfinished, so that the rhythm of the picture would be stronger. From this process I learned how to better control the color of the picture, shape and have a firmer and clearer understanding of the future direction of creation.
The Process of Blue Dream
Next, I am going to talk about how I made these works and how I think about them. Before I made the painting of Green and Yellow, one afternoon, I was passing by the corridor of the Camberwell building. I saw these two chairs quietly placed in a corner, like a couple of lovers, and it got my attention and thought. I think most people wouldn't notice the existence of these two chairs, but I discovered the special connection between these two chairs and the mystery behind them and it touched me, so I decided to paint them. After that, I started to draw drafts, paint compositions, and take photos with my mobile phone. After all the preliminary work was ready, I started to formally create on the canvas. When I first started the draft, I didn’t paint the shape very concretely and accurately, and then I started to color it. Later, I found that the shape of the chair was not accurate, so I constantly adjusted the shape and covered it with color. Therefore, the paint is thicker in some parts of the painting, which creates a sense of texture. Those are the traces left by my continuous coverage, including the lines left when the draft is drafted. I am obsessed with this feeling, and I feel that this kind of painting is very sincere and simple.
The Process of Dinner (Unfinished)
When it comes to the painting of Dinner, the inspiration also comes from a scene I saw in my life. I was eating in a restaurant by chance and seeing a family enjoying their dinner. This scene touched me and made me feel It was warm, so I took pictures with my mobile phone to record this scene. I noticed an interesting phenomenon. All the people in this family were eating dinner with their heads down, except for the little boy who noticed me and looked up at me with those bright and curious eyes. This strong contrast between adults and young boys got me thinking. I wonder if people gradually become indifferent to their surroundings, lose their curiosity and become insensitive as they grow older? Perhaps because of the pressure of work and life, adults have lost the sensitivity and curiosity of the world that they had when they were children, so I decided to paint this scene in my painting language. When I created this painting, I was thinking about how to put the focus on the little boy and weaken the relationship between the surrounding characters. At present, the painting is not yet finished and I will continue to work on it in the future.
In conclusion, in reviewing the study and research of unit 1, I think there are some confusions and gains for me. What's confused is that at first I didn't determine my research direction and I just became anxious and confused. After different attempts, I knew what I wanted. Including the language of painting and the points of interest in research, I finally found my own research direction, which is a gain. The time was very fast, three months passed quickly. What I regret is that I did not work hard enough in this unit I think, the amount of work was not enough, which is something worth reflecting on. For future plans, I plan to do more research and exploration of my works and create more paintings in the next unit.
Reference
Lopez-Garcia, A. (1980) The table [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: http://www.chinashj.com/ysj-pl/9114.html
Lopez-Garcia, A. (1964) Atocha [Oil on Canvas]. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Lopez-Garcia, A. (1972) Skinned Rabbit [Plate Tempera]. Private Collection
Richter, G. (1965) kitchen Chair, [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: https://www.gerhard-richter.com/en/art/paintings/photo-paintings/household-icons-39/kitchen-chair-5615
Richter, G. (1965) Small Chair, [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: https://www.gerhard-richter.com/en/art/paintings/photo-paintings/household-icons-39/small-chair-5618
Richter, G. (1965) Toilet Paper, [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: https://seattleartistleague.com/2016/12/08/gerhard-richter-toilet-paper/
Gerhard Richter (2020) Available at: https://www.gerhard-richter.com/zh/ (Accessed: 2020).
Winstanley, P. (2014) Art School 34 [Oil on Panel]. Public Collection.
Winstanley, P. (2015) Art School 38 [Oil on Panel]. Public Collection.
New Media Republic (no date) Available at: https://www.paulwinstanley.com/about.html (Accessed: date).
Morandi, G. (1952) Natura morta [Oil on Canvas]. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Hammershoi, V. (1901) Interior Strandgade [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: https://www.artrenewal.org/artworks/interior-strandgade-30/vilhelm-hammershoi/47406
Hammershoi, V. (1899) Ida Reading a Letter [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: https://www.artrenewal.org/artworks/ida-lser-et-brev/vilhelm-hammershoi/47411
Bonnard, P. (1912) , Woman Crouching in a Tub [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: https://yalereview.org/article/common-seagull (Accessed: 1 Jan. 2020).
Bonnard, P. (1918) , Nude Crouching in the Bathtub [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: https://yalereview.org/article/common-seagull (Accessed: 1 Jan. 2020).
Heti, S. (2020) 'A Common Seagull
On making art and mourning', The Yale Review, Issue information.
Harmenszoon, R. (1661) Rembrandt as St Paul [Oil on Canvas]. National Gallery of Art, Washington