Sun Wenjia
Contemporary lacquer installation artist Sun Wenjia has long been devoted to the study of the diversified forms of lacquer, constantly expanding the boundaries of lacquer art. He has spontaneously come into contact with lacquer in the form of "playfulness", a process he describes as "a kind of experiment", as if searching for some kind of local identity for himself.
For Sun Wenjia, the transition from oil painting to lacquer creation was itself a huge challenge. He often had to be honest about his feelings in the moment while painting, but he found a delayed satisfaction in painting. From life to art, the work has always outlined the shape of time.
What serendipitous events led you from oil painting to lacquer art?
After graduating from my undergraduate studies, I engaged in several years of comprehensive material practices such as mural painting, tempera, sculpture, and spatial installations. This period significantly enhanced my understanding and application of material properties. In 2016, I happened to come across an image of a lacquer bow from the ruins of the Xiaoshan Cross-Lake Bridge in Hangzhou. I was deeply impressed that a bow from 8000 years ago could be preserved to this day without corrosion or carbonization. The physical and temporal aspects of lacquer deeply fascinated me, which was also the origin of my first solo exhibition "Time Capsule".
You've been continuously exploring the possibilities of lacquer art. What new attempts and reflections have you made recently?
The creative process is an ongoing exploration. While the focal points remain consistent, I'm exploring creativity from additional dimensions, incorporating not only visual aspects but also tactile and auditory elements.
The fusion of abstract art with Eastern materials—does this involve an overlap, coexistence, or transformation of Eastern and Western aesthetic consciousness?
Certainly, there is an overlap. My creative endeavors revolve around the theme of "making things," combining the traditional warmth and subtlety of lacquer with rational and concise forms. This juxtaposition and reconfiguration arise from a variety of personal experiences. Concepts such as "the Dao is simplicity" and "less is more" are universal in both Eastern and Western aesthetics. Growing up in China, one is naturally influenced by Eastern culture and aesthetics; it's ingrained in your genes and cannot be escaped. Simultaneously, my early experience with oil painting and reflections on contemporary art prompted a reevaluation of individual creativity.
How do you interpret the "Regeneration" series as the art of time?
The "Regeneration" series involves the reconstruction and representation of past life forms. Biological fossils bear witness to past time and space, once vibrant life forms preserved through the ages. The series employs lacquer, a medium with temporal and protective qualities, to encapsulate and reconstruct these biological fossils. Lacquer possesses life, breathing with time as a natural entity. By enveloping fossils in lacquer, the series imparts new meaning to these relics in the present time and space, facilitating a dialogue and symbiosis between the past and the present.
Is "M02: Minjiang Drift Notes" related to your personal memories, and how did the idea originate?
During my childhood, I was a mischievous and playful child, raised with almost free-range parenting. The village had several small streams where I spent most of my afternoons catching fish and shrimp. Apart from that, I would join friends in constructing small boats from banana trees and playfully drifting along the stream. Watching the boat disappear downstream, I occasionally pondered where it might end up and what awaited it. During my university days in Fuzhou, I heard many stories about the Minjiang River, the mother river of Fujian, witnessing the migration of the province's ancestors. Flowing from northwest to southeast, the Minjiang River eventually merges into the Pacific Ocean. The river witnessed the migration of Fujian's early inhabitants, pointing from the past to the future. "Mountains and rivers remain, but people change." "M02" attempts to explore how individuals resist time's flow and retain the information of their existence, examining the relationship between artifacts and nature and the individual's connection to time and space.
