2017 / 8 / 12 Chen Yi-Ru x Yuya Suzuki (Japan)
Yuya Suzuki is an artist from Sapporo, Japan, who is doing a residency at the Soulangh Cultural Park. Suzuki received professional printing training when he was a student, and his work gives off a graphic design kind of appeal. He draws all of his images using colored pencils or markers, and draws inspiration from things that he sees in his everyday life. Chen Yi-Ru is an artist based in Tainan, whose paintings are often created with vibrant colors and warm, rich color blocks. Chen draws inspirations from observing everyday people, things, and occurrences. Both of these artists are inspired by their surrounding environments, but approach the use of color blocks in very different ways. For this project “Coming to My Place”, Chen has shown Suzuki around Tainan, and they have also gotten to know about each other’s creative processes and engaged in in-depth exchanges and discussions on art.
Chen Yi-Ru
Born in 1984 in Taipei and is currently based in Tainan, Taiwan, Chen Yi-Ru obtained her master’s degree in 2013 from the Western Painting Division of the Graduate Institute of Visual Arts at the National University of Tainan. Amongst other distinctions, she has been selected to exhibit her work at the exhibition for the Taiwan Emerging Art Awards.
Chen believes that the environment and animals reflect humanity’s conditions; therefore, she pays close attention to the ecosystem and transform what she sees in life into images created with color blocks, as she forms a creative world using her unique expressions of art.
Yuya Suzuki
Born in 1983 in Fukushima, Japan, Yuya Suzuki graduated from the Nihon University College of Art with a bachelor’s degree in visual arts, and is now a Sapporo-based visual artist. He specializes in using video, drawing, image transformation, and sculpture to convey his observations and physical experiences with his everyday surrounding. In addition to Taiwan, he has also taken part in residencies in Germany, France, and Korea. Having traveled to different countries and through these accumulated experiences in foreign places, he has acquired a heightened sensitivity towards spatial and temporal qualities.
Difference Between Drawing and Painting
Yuya Suzuki: I began to draw in college, which is different from painting. To me, drawing is part of the process for completing a painting, and I don’t see it as a finished artwork. This is something that piques my interest. Because I didn’t have access to printmaking facilities after I graduated, so I continued to draw. Different from painting, drawing doesn’t require a specialized workspace; it is more flexible. I quit my job in 2012 and went to Germany for three years. I learned a lot during this time and also continued to draw. I then returned to Japan and started creating the artworks that you see in this series. There are many artworks in Europe and the U.S. that are socially and historically based; however, I am interested in creating art inspired by my own surrounding environment; artworks that could reflect the current reality.
The current art series that I have created share an urban theme. I have the habit of taking photographs of urban sceneries, and I wanted to incorporate this into my art. When making art, I would usually walk around the city I am in taking pictures of interesting things that I see. I would then go back to my studio to work on my art. I always followed these two steps before I make an artwork, which are to draw on an A4 size paper and to only use colored pencils. I follow this approach no matter which city I am in and continue to accumulate through this process.
Through the artworks that I’ve accumulated, I then proceed further with the creative process by using three-dimensional techniques, animation, or mural. The elements that I have captured from various cities are first drawn and then transformed using other formats. Throughout this constantly evolving process, the artworks would grow increasingly more detached from the original features seen in those cities. This is a process that I find quite interesting, and it also continues to alter the shapes and forms extracted from those cities.
Chen Hsiang-Wen (Moderator): You mentioned that the transformation process makes the artworks appear less similar to the original features found in those cities. You also mentioned that you wish for your artworks to serve as a tool of communication. What do you wish to communicate with the audience through this visual language you’ve created?
Yuya Suzuki: My drawings are my own original creations, but my artworks such as installations are sometimes inspired by other things that I’ve seen. I feel that I am not just simply doing arrangements in a specific space. Because each audience’s own unique personal experience, he or she would perceive an artwork in a unique way. Through the hints suggested by the artworks, the audience could freely imagine and for the artworks to become relatable.
I don’t see art as a personal matter, and I place emphasis on incorporating the audience into the artworks. Languages are typically used to explain works of art, but different languages could interpret something in different ways. My intention is not to convey my artworks through this approach, and it is the most ideal in my opinion to communicate an idea without relying on language, without having to make any conversions.
Color Deconstruction and Reality Reconstruction
Chen Yi-Ru: When I was a student, I used to think that there are no dirty, muddled colors, only mismatched colors. I have a strong affinity for a wide range of colors, so I’ve spent a lot time studying color combinations. I tend to use a lot of intermediate colors, which are referred to as “tonal colors.” Combinations using tonal colors may appear quite eye-catching when seen as a comprehensive whole, but individually, those colors are not as bright. I also take photographs to use as elements for my artworks. I am currently working on a planet series with animals depicted. Photographs of animals taken at night would often result in glistening sparkles in their eyes due to retinal reflection, so I’ve painted a series of animals with sparkling eyes. I find it quite interesting that both Yuya Suzuki and I use color blocks to transform reality, but we approach it in different ways. He simplifies reality into images and turns outlines of objects into color blocks. I, on the other hand, deconstruct the colors of the entire space I am depicting and reconstructs it using my own unique approach.
This is an exhibition presented last year, with artworks from the ark series. I find the story of the ark quite fascinating, and find zoos or aquariums are pretty much arks made with concrete, and the ecosystems they have inside are quite similar. It seems like the animals contained in those spaces also follow a work schedule. There was one shown earlier with jellyfish. Those jellyfish were endlessly rotating in one direction. I am not sure if they were consciously or unconsciously doing that, but the situation reminded me of office workers. This state of reality or being detached from reality is something that I am quite fascinated by.
The earlier works in the planet series consisted more of landscapes, but in recent years, I have shifted to focus on depicting animals. I tend to mix my own colors, and I don’t feel comfortable if I can’t mix the colors. I rarely use primary colors, which is something that is quite different from him. The way I choose colors is I would first envision a color scheme and then decide to use acrylic or oil pigments. I typically use oil more often. This is one of the first artworks that launched this series, the star series.
The sources that I work with are mostly derived from my surrounding environment. Besides picking a theme and taking photographs to gather materials from, I would also take snapshots to use as references, which include things that I am attracted to and interesting photographs. I would save them and use as references later. I look at a lot of visual things, because I think I need to constantly stimulate my eyes to avoid becoming stagnant, so I rely on an ample amount of visual images.
