Hello Sophia and welcome to NotRandomArt. The current issue is revolving around the problem of communication and identity. Is there any particular way you would describe your identity as an artist but also as a human being in dynamically changing, unstable times? In particular, does your cultural substratum/identity form your aesthetics?
Identity has always been an important part of my life, as I come from a multi-cultural back ground. My father is German, my mother is Malaysian, and I grew up in Asia and Europe. I feel that my identity, both as a human being and as an artist, naturally stems from my cultural background. To me, the most difficult and simultaneously the most exciting aspect of my cultural substratum is the feeling of belonging everywhere and nowhere at the same time. With repect to my art, I focus more on the topic of communication rather than identity. The expression and exploration of the subconscious in abstract form is what I aim to translate onto a canvas. While this might be my primary goal, that does not exclude the concept of identity in my body of work. I believe my identity must fabricate some parts of my subconscious, and my subconscious in return also constructs parts of my identity.
Would you like to tell us something about your artistic as well as life background? What inspired you to be in this artistic point in your life when you are now?
My passion for art and painting developed during my international upbringing in Asia and Europe, which exposed me in particular to the erupting art scenes in Shanghai and then later in Singapore.
After completing my bachelor’s in the Netherlands in 2013, I started my career in real estate in Singapore. Alongside my real estate work, I also worked part-time for my family retail business. Throughout my life I have always been painting, it is my passion and I am happiest when I create. Most importantly, art helps me subconsciously make sense of things that I cannot otherwise make sense of rationally. In 2017 I decided to take painting from a hobby to a profession. For the first time ever I started exhibiting and selling my works. Once I got a taste for mixing my passion of art with business I set out to pursue it further. After spending 5 wonderful years in Singapore, I felt it was time to make a change and move back to Europe. I am currently living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, focusing on producing and promoting my art. It has been one of the best decisions of my life.
Could you identify a specific artwork that has influenced your artistic practice or has impacted the way you think about your identity as a participant of the visual culture?
Kiki’s Moon. I painted this piece in 2018 and it was the beginning of a new artistic journey for me in terms of technique. The painting is based on a dream I had about being on a moon that belonged to my then recently deceased cat - Kiki. It sounds weird, but I think the subconscious is weird. Nevertheless, she was family and it was heartbreaking to lose her. One day in the studio, I was looking at 2 works of art that I had started 4 years earlier. I evidently couldn’t grow to like them so I impulsively put one of the canvases down and started painting. My only thought was to release this strange energy and emotion I had surrounding the dream.
Instead of approaching the canvas in the traditional ways of my painting, I found myself experimenting with different media. In doing so, I was exploring something new and unknown to me. Since then, I have been continuously experimenting with this technique and trying to understand how the properties of the different media I am using react with each other. It has been liberating allowing myself the freedom of technique and investigating something that is new, rather than only practicing the techniques I had been taught or learnt.
Since you transform your experiences into your artwork, we are curious, what is the role of memory in your artistic productions? We are particularly interested if you try to achieve a faithful translation of your previous experiences or if you rather use memory as starting point to create.
If it’s part of the brain, it’s important to me. Whether conscious or subconscious, these are themes I aim to explore and express through my art. Memory is an interesting one because it plays such a critical role in both segments. It is said the conscious mind makes up 10% of our brain, additionally it is also responsible for short-term memory. In contrast, the subconscious makes up the majority of our brain capacity, controls long-term memory and, ironically, it’s the part we understand least.
My dreams are often the only tool to understanding my subconscious, which are frequently the “starting points” of my work. In retrospect, I inadvertently use long-term memory more often than short-term memory in my work.
But isn’t that the beauty of the subconscious? Often I only understand my paintings once they are completed.
What is the role of technique in your practice? In particular are there any constraints or rules that you follow when creating?