10 Questions with Yongqi Tang

Born in China in 1997, Yongqi Tang attended the University of Washington and received a B.A. in painting and drawing in 2019 and an M.F.A in 2022. She is the recipient of the Bernie Funk Artist Scholarship, Boyer and Elizabeth Bole Gonzales Scholarship for Excellence, and the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Artists Scholarship Award. She was an artist in residence at the Field Projects Gallery, NY, and will be one of the artists in residence at the Amazon 2023 AIR Program. Currently, she teaches at the University of Washington as a visiting lecturer.

Having studied and worked between China and America, Yongqi’s works have been influenced by the drastically different cultural and ideological contexts of the two countries. Interested in how the interaction with the environing world would affect our existence, she questions and deconstructs her roles in both private and public space by investigating the social construction of identities through the act of painting and drawing. Yongqi’s works examine the fluidity of our self-images and relate to the broader human experience of the ambiguousness of identity, such as gender, sexuality, and nationality.

The objective of her works is to reinterpret the categories into which we are born to rearticulate the discourse around them. Her studio practices involve a variety of materials such as oil, watercolor, acrylic, and charcoal.

Using the dining experience as an entry point, Yongqi’s current works examine the ambivalence to be in the liminal state between the alienation from her country of origin and the displacement at the current settlement. The works inspect how Chinese immigrants see themselves through the concepts others have of them and the groups they belong to and perform identities under the impact of the surrounding conditions. Identity, therefore, becomes a duplicated phenomenon – people are both themselves and a project they make of themselves.

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INTERVIEW

First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. How would you define yourself as an artist? And what makes you unique? 

Nice to meet you! My name is Yongqi Tang. I was born in 1997 in Shenzhen and currently live and work in Seattle. I received my MFA degree from the University of Washington. My primary media are oil, acrylic, watercolor, and charcoal drawing, thus I consider myself a painter. I view painting as a method for exploring the present and recovering authenticity.
I believe that my physical traumas make me special. I've had significant scoliosis from early adolescence and underwent surgery when I was 19 years old. The pain was both acute and chronic; while I insisted on rehabilitation training, I realized that health or a regular daily life do not come easily, and I must work diligently to earn them. This is the basis for many of my works.

You moved from China to the USA to attend the University of Washington, where you are currently a visiting lecturer. How was this move beneficial to your art? 

I am grateful to have this job, which allows me to sustain myself without working 40 hours per week. I believe that artists require substantial amounts of time for their work. If I spend too much time determining my basic needs, I will be unable to produce my best work. Working at the university allows me to devote more time and focus to painting, the most significant component of my profession.

Are you more influenced now by Chinese or American culture? How do you find a balance between the two? 

In the contemporary or postcolonial context, I do not believe I can simply divide cultural influences based on ethnicity or nationality, especially since I grew up in a thoroughly Westernized, modern urban society. China, like many other formerly colonized countries, has internalized the West culturally, intellectually, and materially; however, as they do so, they also create a new hybrid culture that is neither entirely Chinese nor American. It is so hybrid that it is impossible to determine which component is which. I believe I fall into this category.

In your work, you portray seemingly common events, often revolving around food. How did you develop this style? And what messages do you want to convey?

"Eat Drink Man Woman" is a project that examines the ambivalence of being in the transitional position between alienation from my home country and displacement in the United States via the lens of the dining experience. As I have completed my research, I will likely not return to the topic in the future. I depict dining situations because I am interested in how they relate to the formation of national identity. Eating is fundamental to human identity, as it is at the dinner table that we begin to understand who we are and with whom we associate. The relationships surrounding the meal are more interesting to me than the food itself because they reveal the lifestyle, mental states, and power dynamics of the group. They simultaneously provide us with a sense of community and the status and identity by which we separate ourselves from others.

Your work is also highly influenced by the notion of identity, which in your statement, you define as "a duplicated phenomenon – people are both themselves and a project they make of themselves." How much of your personal experience is reflected in this concept? 

The experience of being on the outside and caught between separation from the West and disintegration from my homeland shaped two contradictory states of mind: an Asian "American" and a Chinese. My work examines how I acclimated to the new norms in Seattle while maintaining a dual awareness. I attempt to fit in by viewing myself through the perspective of others and putting on an act. While I am a member of a group, I also possess the diversity of a foreigner. The academy provides the stage setting; everything appears real, vibrant, and eternal, despite the fact that I know they are a façade. After the play's curtain falls, everything will return to where it actually belongs.

You work with what we can define as traditional techniques, such as oil on canvas, but the themes you deal with are very much contemporary. Why did you choose this technique? And what does it represent for you?

I chose oil painting because of its versatility and instability. As Francis Bacon once said, "with oil paint being so fluid, the image is changing all the time while you are working. One thing either builds on another or destroys the other… Even unconsciously moving the brush one way rather than the other will completely alter the implications of the image." The paintings can be both liquid and solid, visceral and delicate. I may build color and depth with thin layers of glazing, or I can be more direct and make pieces that are almost sculptural with the thick paint. I am enthusiastic about its potential.

Is there anything else you would like to experiment with?

I want to investigate the airbrush and surface texture. I want to experiment with various acrylic materials to create a thicker texture. I am currently attempting to incorporate elements of traditional Chinese scroll painting into my oil paintings in order to situate them within the context of Western art. If space and resources permit, I would like to create a painting so long that it wraps around the room's corner.

How do you promote your work? As you currently live in the U.S., do you cater more toward the U.S. market, or do you keep a collectors' base in China?

I feel that establishing a professional profile is essential for effective self-promotion. Instagram and my own website are my primary channels for showcasing my work. As numerous galleries and artists are active on Instagram, I attempt to interact with them on the platform. I also applied to numerous open calls in an effort to get my work acknowledged. I primarily cater to the U.S. market, but I would love to develop a global audience.

What are you working on right now? Any new projects you would like to share with our readers?

I am creating a new body of work based on the classic of Chinese literature, "Strange Tales From a Chinese Studio." This classic work of fiction was published in 1740 and contains 491 short "strange tales." The stories were created to reflect on societal issues of the time, such as the injustice of the imperial examination system, despite their supernatural nature. I am curious about how these stories may have new implications as globalization gains momentum. Since beginning the new project, I've been exploring and modifying extensively. As an alternative to looking at photographs, I began constructing sculptures as references for the drawings.

And finally, what are your goals for the near future, both personally and artistically? Do you have a dream you are still working towards? 

First and foremost, I hope that my solo exhibitions in 2023 will be successful, as I am currently planning for them. In addition, I aspire to obtain a tenure-track position at a college or be represented by a gallery within the next five years. Yet, in the end, it's all about painting; therefore, I believe my goal is to have people linger in front of my artwork for longer, from 20 seconds to 2 minutes, 2 minutes to a half hour, and a half hour to 20 years. I hope that people will remember my paintings.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.