10 Questions with Wowser Ng

Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine ISSUE13 | Featured Artist

Wowser Ng (b.1998) is a China-born, London-based visual artist. Wowser got a letter of recommendation from Steve Brodner in 2019 then he continued to study at UAL for his Master's degree in 2021. His artworks were selected for the 5th Fida Awards Finalists, Jungle Illustration Award 2021, and New Talent in 2022.

He designs fashion illustrations for many brands, including YSL, L'Oreal Paris, and Chery Automobile, and co-designs the artwork Mirror Garden with Florentia Village in 2021. Wowser exhibits globally, including at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, Beijing 798 Art District, The Holy Art Gallery, TRiCERA ART, Makersplace, Tableaux Voices of NYC Victorian Salon, and Central Saint Martins Museum. His works are collected by Central Saint Martins Museum and collectors in Shanghai, Wuhan, Tokyo, and London.

In 2022, his artworks were featured in Contemporary Art Curator Magazine and Contemporary Art Collectors.

www.wowserng.com | @wowser_ng

ARTIST STATEMENT

Fast, hype, and packaging bring extravagant material consumption, as well as symbolic business culture, which makes the power of the individual irresist the tide swept. Therefore, it easily leads the public to succumb to quick and temporary popularity.

The essence of pop art is to deconstruct thoughts, a kind of ideology of deconstructing and remodeling. It is anti-historical and anti-classical and often takes social figures of the masses, and it copies the original appearance of life as the basic elements of creation. But this empty “art” is over-interpreted, which makes the empty subject matter more superficial.

The existence of pop culture further defines the connotation of the commodity as anti-art, which makes the commodity and commerce a symbol of overturning high spirits attacking traditional art.

His work functions by appropriating fashion products and commodities. These sleek and gorgeous images depict Generation Z, an era of rapid material economic development, and attempt to highlight the dangers of continuing to support materialism. When the artist puts forward the issue of the relationship between commodities and people, the audience needs to reflect on the influence of the media on Gen Z and question the power of the fashion/product industry endorsement. His painting combines abstract and concrete, which is a challenge to Pop art. He develops the painting practice of combining abstract and Pop with a visual narrative to reveal the pop culture under the influence of the current society.

INTERVIEW

Let's talk about your background. Could you tell us more about yourself and how you began making art?

I was born into a scholarly family in China. My grandfather is a professor at a university, and my grandmother was originally a businessman. My grandfather had many friends who were painters and writers, and my grandmother had a great art collection. I was exposed to art at a very young age, but I didn't want to be an artist at that time. In middle school, my gender identity was confused, which was very stressful for me at the time. Queer people can be difficult to identify with in gendered Asian societies. As a result, it was hard for me to feel confident about the people around me and to express my own opinions. So, I became more and more solitary and didn't like to talk to the people around me. Later, because of the boarding school, my parents had no time to accompany me, but they would buy me many luxuries to meet my material needs. But I still feel lonely. I spend all my time with these luxuries every day, and I often spend my pocket money on fashion magazines. I have my own booklets, and I draw pictures of the products I like on my booklets, and I study the stories of these products. I grew up with this lonely, depressed routine. My parents did not want me to study art at first, and I often argued with them as I was very individuality and rebellious, but they gave in to me, and then I enrolled in an art academy. However, this did not make my art career smooth. At that time, I had a disagreement with my teacher about my understanding of art, and my works were not approved by the teacher. Therefore, I rebated and conceived the idea of becoming an artist. After graduation, I worked in the fashion and luxury industry. I designed fashion illustrations for many brands, but I was not satisfied with that. So, I chose to go to the University of the Arts London to study for my master's degree, and I began formal large-scale art creation. I put all these experiences into my work. In this way, many people think my works are special and fashionable, and I gradually become an artist. Maybe it was meant to be, and art chose me.

When did you decide to become an artist? And what do you wish you knew about contemporary art before you got started?

Maybe it was during my undergraduate study that I learned some basic techniques and knowledge of contemporary art history and design history. However, I am not satisfied with this. I often skip some classes that I am not interested in and go to the library to look up the works of artists I like, or some modern and contemporary art books. You have to go through a lot of books to get a general idea of art in the modern to the contemporary period, right? Sometimes I would go to my own studio to practice and draw, but I don't like copying other master's works. Maybe in the eyes of teachers, I am a bad student who doesn't like to study, but it may be because of these habits that the audience can feel my distinct personality through my work.

Let's talk about your creative process. Where do you draw inspiration from nowadays?

Most of my inspiration comes from my own experiences growing up, some perception of queer gender, societal pressures, and the characteristics of Gen Z. I find it more powerful to create works based on my own experience and inspiration. I often pay attention to fashion information, and I have been very fond of buying fashion magazines to research the fashion products of the season since childhood. I often draw these products on the draft book, record the features of these products, and analyze the advertising language of these products. Therefore, I can easily extract the fashion products I want and put them in my works to form new contexts.

What is your artistic routine when working? Do you have a set schedule, or do you work following your inspiration? 

I like to research the products I need to use first, then redesign the products according to the theme or make artistic treatment, then make some collages on the draft book to think about the composition of the picture, then I will draw many rough sketches so that I can think about the composition and focus on the most satisfactory one for in-depth depiction. Then I adjust and color it according to the sketch. I don't like routine work most of the time, I don't like to work at night, and I don't like the light in the room to affect my color judgment. I don't think I can guarantee that I'll have good ideas all the time. Instead of agonizing over a canvas, read something interesting or go out for a walk. Sometimes some casual inspiration and brushstrokes are often the most wonderful.

In your work, you often refer to Gen Z. What are the main themes behind your work?

The most important core of my work is anti-materialism. Is it right that we continue to support materialism? Or whether continuing to support materialism is dangerous. I was born in GEN Z, and I think I have the right to discuss this topic. Generation Z is an era of rapid development of the material economy, with the intervention of media and a large number of advertisements filling our life. Maybe we grew up in an environment that can't avoid a few Chanel, LV, and Hermès show-off people. You can also see that the characters in my paintings are very special. They are the kind of materialistic souls that can be seen through at a glance.

At the same time, you also quote key figures of the past century, like Simone De Beauvoir. What do you want to communicate to the public?

A classic is still a classic, no matter how long it's been, right? The wisdom of the past continues to inform our times and will continue to do so. Be wary of ephemeral trends in an age of rapid information turnover.

What about the colors you use in your paintings? Are they meant to convey a certain feeling or idea? 

The colors in my paintings will reflect the contradiction of the work, the contradiction between colors, red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple. The contradiction with gender, the contradiction between figurative and abstract, and the contradiction between material and spirit all echo each other in my paintings. On the other hand, the colors I use are very bright and trendy. At first glance, it looks like pop art or fashion illustration. It's very attractive. It's like a scam to attract the fashion geese of Gen Z to punch in, and their behavior becomes part of my work.

How did you develop this idea, and how do you see it evolving in the future? Do you plan to continue this series?

My idea comes from my life experience and is not so much a thought as a reflection of the present moment. I researched pop art when I was in college, and it really succeeded against abstract expression art as a new kind of figurative art. It brought art into the eyes of the common people. This art genre is still influencing our society today. Andy Warhol, the founder of Internet celebrity, influenced a number of his followers. Today, our society is filled with superficial and eye-catching images, and this ephemeral pop culture permeates our lives like air. So, I want to break it and warn you of the dangers of continuing. Of course, I know this may be impossible, but I will continue in the future. I do have plans to continue the series, but when I finish a sentence, I want to say a second sentence. I like to challenge myself and not be limited by one style.

Talking about the future, what are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Do you have any upcoming exhibitions or projects?

I am currently designing my own fashion products, and this is just the beginning of the preliminary draft drawing stage. There are a lot of things I need to learn. My future goal is to further explore the relationship between fashion, art, and the market by applying these product images I designed myself to my digital paintings. Can an artist be a fashion brand? I'll be doing my first career residency later this year at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai. This is a very famous architectural landmark in Shanghai. I will make bold attempts during my residency.

Finally, as you are still very young, where do you see your career and your art going in the future? What do you hope to accomplish in the next few years?

Art is not limited by age, and I cannot predict the future, but I am ambitious and will not be satisfied with the present, and will not stop creating. In the future, I will stick to digital painting as the medium of artistic creation and hope to find a suitable gallery to hold my first solo exhibition, which is very important for an artist. I hope to find a suitable physical gallery to cooperate with and maintain a long-term and stable relationship to develop and progress together.