10 Questions with Yien Xu

THE ORIGINAL ISSUE10 Art Magazine | Featured Artist

Yien Xu, born and bred in China, started photography in 2010 and won the silver prize of the International Photography Awards in both 2017 and 2021. Shanghai Youth Art Fair invited Yien to participate in shows in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 based on his achievements. He has also taken several media interviews and written photography columns for several years. Yien now lives and works as a photography artist in Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited and sold in galleries such as Palm Desert Artists Council, Las Laguna Gallery, Escondido Arts Partnership, and Verum Ultimum Art Gallery.

www.xuyien.com

ARTIST STATEMENT

Art emerged with human emergence, as reflected in the most ancient murals. Why did art appear so early? Because it is human civilization itself, and the emergence of art symbolizes the emergence of civilization. People learn about the world in different ways, and art is the artist's way. Art is a tool for the artist to explore the world. It allows him to understand how the world runs, form the whole structure of the world in his mind, and then express his perception of the world via art. It is also the artist's way to lead the trend, help people to see the field they have never been involved in, get used to it, and accept it. Inspired by this, his latest works shifted to a surrealist style based on reality yet differed from it, conveying a false sense of truth. The new works are more experimental and exploratory as well.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell our readers a bit about you. Who are you, and how did you start experimenting with images?

I was born and raised in a small town in China, and now live and work in the United States. I started photographing works in 2010, and now I am a professional photography artist. When I was a kid, my mom bought me a lot of kids' magazines that were picture-based. At the same time, color television was emerging in China, and our family bought one, so my visual enlightenment started to grow rapidly. Everyone has a talent, and I think mine is definitely heavily visual. Although my parents are not artists, my talent and interests guided me to take the path I have taken. I am susceptible to color and images, and ever since we got the television, it has been the source of almost all of my joy. I love to watch movies, especially movies with beautiful pictures, which led me down the path to pursue my dream to be a director. This dream led me on a different path from my peers. After graduation, I have been engaged in animation production, film and television actors, and other jobs to pursue my ultimate goal to become a director. Still, I never imagined that I would end up as a photographer. Cell phones with cameras were just emerging at that time, and I bought a Sony Ericsson phone with powerful photo functions. I took a lot of photos for my work and life, and when Kaixin.com (the Chinese version of Facebook ) was popular, I put the pictures on the social media platform and got a lot of positive comments. This got me excited and opened up the option of photography for me, and I eventually got my first camera in 2010 and started my photography journey.

In your statement, you mention a shift in your latest works. How has your art evolved over the years?

My major in school was not photography, nor art, but Computer Graphics, and I took this path purely for the love of photography. Still, I did not get a professional college education in this subject. I didn't have a famous teacher to guide me, didn't have a career plan, or had the resources to do so. Like ordinary photography enthusiasts, my initial photography was based on life records, and most of my knowledge came from research through the Internet and books. In the first half of my photography career, I shot a lot of documentary works and tried almost every kind of subject matter. I even traveled to Tibet twice for a-month-long in 2013 and 2014 for long-distance shooting as a training set in retrospect. The high-intensity practice and years of experience have laid a solid foundation for my later works of art. Gradually, my perspective on things began to change, and my perception of photography was also changing. I didn't want to stick to traditional methods but wanted to break new ground. In 2016-2017, I took a lot of art courses on the Internet, bought piles of art books, and started to learn about art. From classic to contemporary, from Botticelli to Basquiat, Takashi Murakami to Cindy Sherman, Pop Art to Typology Photography, etc. I got a clear understanding of art from history to structure. Through this knowledge, I learned how to start to change, build my own style and plan my career bit by bit in order to become a branch in the big tree of art. That same year, I also started to study English and had the chance to follow my English teacher on a trip to the United States. That trip not only opened my eyes to a different world, but also broadened my horizons by visiting a lot of museums and seeing a lot of exhibitions in the United States. That trip had a significant impact on me, and massive information flooded my mind. It took me a long time to digest everything and do a lot of thinking which led to me creating a new batch of high-quality works different from my old style. The trip to the United States truly helped establish my current artistic style and direction.

What is your aim as an artist today?

Creating art is where my talent lies. Everyone uses the means they are good at to explore the world, and for me, the pursuit of art allows me to understand the world and grasp how it works. Art allows me to explore uncharted territories, experiment, and corroborate within the world. Each discipline is a facet of the world, and they are interconnected, and a deeper study of art will help me think about other things. At the same time, art is also a means of communication. Through art, I can express myself and the conclusions of my exploration, and bring like-minded people around me to change and shape the world together. To me, success in art means success in life.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your work? Do you have any specific references?

My inspiration comes from the process of learning and thinking. I was once told that everything you see, eat, listen to, and experience becomes a part of you. My inspiration comes not only from real life but also from actual events, history, literature, music, movies, and the works of other artists. I have been influenced by a few artists, two of whom I consider to be my teachers. The artists are Dan Winters and Andreas Gursky, from whom I have drawn a lot of concepts and knowledge. In the creation process, inspiration is more often a flash of light, which is also due to daily accumulation. Experience and expertise are critical to my artwork.

You mostly work with landscape photography. What is your creative process like? And how much planning goes into each work? 

My works are primarily landscapes, but I rarely shoot pure natural landscapes. I like landscapes related to human beings, as they are part of civilization and due to my curiosity about civilization itself. My works are usually shot with large format cameras with lots of heavy equipment. I always have a portable camera with me, and when I find scenes that can cause me to think, I will take pictures as future reference materials. I often use my cell phone, make adjustments, and think about the photo later. When the concept of a work is mature in my mind, I will bring large professional equipment and go to the scene again for formal shooting. A photo can take up to a month from conception to preparation to shooting and final computer adjustments. Of course, the difficulty level of each job is different and the specific plan and time still depend on the actual situation.

Your photographs convey a sense of stillness, almost to the point of surrealism. What messages do you want to communicate with your photographs?

I want to express an ideal state in my mind or the aspect I see. The world is so complex in a way that people often can't see clearly. The photographer has a pair of sharp eyes that can separate simple things from the complex world. For example, my work The Vision is not the Shanghai that exists in reality. There is no mountain in Shanghai, but it exists in The Vision because I added a mountain to the background. The river in Shanghai is yellow, however it appears blue in my work. In my mind, the ideal city should have mountains nearby, and the nearby body of water should be blue. I lived in Shanghai for a long time. It is the largest and most westernized city in China, and it is powerful and progressive. I use the mountain and the blue river that do not exist in reality to express this, so that even people who do not know the city well also be able to understand the inner part of Shanghai at a glance.

Another example is the work Tai'an, which shows a normal state of Chinese people's living. The dense buildings stretch infinitely, and the people living in them have no sense. China's population is huge, and the limited space allows people to live like termites in a succession of tall towers. I took a segment of this scene that represents the common occurrence. The wealth of Chinese people is also presented in the properties, each window representing almost all the wealth and debts of a family. These countless windows are a true reflection of the Chinese economy.

You are currently based in Los Angeles. What do you think about the art community and market there? Do you find it a stimulating place to live in?

Los Angeles is a stimulating place to live in, which is a big reason why I chose to settle here. Los Angeles is a sunny city on the west coast and is known to be an art city that houses many art museums and galleries, large and small, such as The Getty Center, The Broad, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and many others. LA is also a hub for artists on the West Coast, with Amy Yao, Liz Craft, Sam Falls, Thomas Demand, Ryan Trecartin, and many others living here. In terms of the market, Hollywood stars and middle-class elites are a steady stream of collectors, and there is a vast market for both traditional and contemporary art. Compared to New York's high prices, dense population, stifling pace, and money-oriented attitude, Los Angeles is affordable, comfortable, and a peaceful place to live. The city's sheer size provides artists and gallery owners with cost-effective, well-lit spaces where they can create and exhibit their work without fear of falling into a financial quagmire.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

I'm currently planning a new project based on an American topic. I just moved to the US not long ago, and this country is a huge treasure for me. The country is like a new game map that I need to explore from scratch. It will be very interesting to see how a foreigner's perspective slowly turns into that of a permanent resident. I'm excited and look forward to life once everything settles down. I have already participated in a few exhibitions in the US and will have my own solo show in the future. In addition, I plan to publish a book of my works, with a lot of other things on the agenda.

What is one lesson you learned from this past year's experience? And how did it help you further develop your art?

COVID-19 pandemic made life difficult. It showed me how fragile humanity is, that civilization has not developed as wonderfully as it does in the movies, and that humanity still has a long way to go. The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine also showed me the fragility of peace, that war is never far from us, and that the influencer smiling happily on Instagram yesterday may be dying during war today. In the future, I will pay more attention to the fragile side of the world. One of my jobs as an artist is to strengthen and fix the world.

Finally, what is one thing you would like the world to know about you?

I would love for people to see my works, witness my growth, and become like-minded friends. I welcome everyone to visit my personal website: www.xuyien.com