Feng Yichen：Floating Story
The personal works of the artist Feng Yichen are to be on show. It is the
3rd year that Feng Yichen has was involved in Art Nova 100. I believe that
those people who pay attention to young artists must be familiar with his
artwork. He is known for his sound mastery of the Chinese medicine and
his softness in applying ink and water. How has come this young man,
born into a Chinese medicine family, has become a classical painter with
strong personal features? What special experience has he undergone
during this process? Feng Yicheng’s answers to the following questions
will allow everyone to understand his young artistic view more
genuinely.
Liu Yiping（hereinafter referred to as Liu）：Why did you start to study
painting? And why did you choose classical oil painting?
Feng Yichen（hereinafter referred to as Feng）：When I started to draw, I just
liked it, but it was my enthusiasm that drove me to further study painting. My
passion for painting dates back to my childhood, when material civilization was
not as developed as today, leaving me to spend most of my time drawing
things I had seen and imagined. Moreover, you can dominate the entire world
on paper implanting all your imagination in it, which means a lot of fun for a
child. It was only natural for me to choose painting when I faced a major choice
of life about what to study in college. It is a happy thing to purse what one loves
as a lifetime career.
After getting admitted as an oil painting major, I encountered the choice
among three specific fields of study: classical, figurative and abstract painting
and it was, once again, out of pure enthusiasm that I didn’t hesitate at all to
choose classical realism, as I cherish aestheticism very much. It is clearly
reflected in my work, which, although being quite abstract in appearance,
suggests that subjective elements decide the layout and the final impression of
the painting, and these elements represent my persistence on aestheticism
and form, as a result of my enthusiastic approach and reflections on classical
oil painting.
Liu：You went to college in Tianjin, but why did you decide to pursue a
career in Beijing? Did you consider other cities as well?
Feng：This was a rational decision: first of all, Beijing is China’s political and
cultural center, while Shanghai is the economic center. As an artist born and
studying in North China, Beijing represents an absolutely better choice as I
didn’t have to worry about adapting to a new environment, meaning I can
quickly start working, and there were considerably more opportunities for
artists. In fact, I also thought about other factors like environment and transport,
but they didn’t play a significant role in the decision-making process about my
dreams and career.
As for now, I think Beijing is the right choice for me, as it has a good cultural
atmosphere, although most people may be more impressed with the intense
competition and ample opportunities when they come to this metropolis. I’m
deeply attracted by the large number of culture and art lovers as well as the
wide range of arts that local audience accept, and I really feel gratified for such
an atmosphere, which I hadn’t really experienced until I moved to the city and
stayed here.
Liu：We all know it would be quite hard for young artists in their early
days, and a lot of them have encountered difficulties like poor economic
situations and lack of resources. As a quite successful young artist, have
you experienced any such issues?
Feng：I have had hard days, but it had nothing to do with money. I lived alone
when I first came to Beijing, as few of my college classmates stayed in the oil
painting business, and even fewer of them came to Beijing. My major problems
then were loneliness and anxiety, which left me to shut myself in the room,
painting every day. I remember that I did not speak to anybody for at least a
month, and I spent almost all holidays alone that year. But I wrote a journal to
encourage myself on every major festival. When I went back to Tianjin later
and suddenly saw so many people at the railway station, I even felt terrified by
the eye contact with other people. Looking back, how I wish I could travel back
in time and talk to myself at the time!
The most upsetting part of loneliness is not about being alone, but about
not being able to share. One can always survive hard times if they want, but it’s
painful not to be able to share happiness with others, as a large part of
happiness consists in sharing.
As for economic issues, I handled them quite fast, which some may
attribute to good luck, but I would thank my decisiveness and diligence,
allowing me to grasp all opportunities I was given. I believe luck means
probability, which can be increased with hard work. If you buy a lottery ticket
every day and the probability to win is 10%, of course you only have 10%
chance to win, but if you buy 10 lottery tickets every day, the chance of winning
would be raised significantly. Likewise, if you work hard enough and grasp all
potential opportunities, some of them are set to pay back. If you call this good
luck, I think I will enjoy good luck all the time.
Liu：Did you get any aid during your career development?
Feng：Yes I did, and a lot, including intangible ones such as inspiring remarks
from a fried, some experience shared by a predecessor, or a good advice from
a teacher, and tangible ones like the recognition to some of my works, and the
purchase of my works by galleries and art institutions. I can make a long list of
such aid. Moreover, there were people who helped or inspired me simply with
their encouraging words or understanding conversations, all of which I regard
to as nothing but a timely help. I have even made several paintings inspired by
the old Chinese story “Bo Le judging horses” to express my gratitude to such
aid.
Liu：It seems that such experiences have made you think a lot, so what
did you get from them?
Feng：I really get a lot from them, but the real fortunes are always invisible.
One can never get experience from books. That’s why traditional Chinese
medicine emphasizes on clinical practice, as only experience gathered in real
practice matters. These experiences have also influenced me significantly in
such aspects as personal character, behavior and thinking. Experience and
environment can really change a person.
Liu：You have hosted a seminar at Ming Tai Space to introduce your
creation method, and you mentioned the key word of „awareness”. Does
this mean you reflect on yourself a lot? Or you prefer to think about the
objects as they are?
Feng：More accurately, it’s about the essence of things, from the appearance
to the substance and from the outside to the inside. I wrote an article called
“Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment” to discuss art from the angle of
traditional Chinese medicine, which works the same way. Syndrome
differentiation and treatment represents the essence of traditional Chinese
medicine, targeting the fundamental causes of diseases. As the simplest
materialism and the most basic dualism, it actually talks about how to find the
substance through the appearances. Thinking should work similarly, as many
things correspond to each other and are interrelated, and many things bear
significant meaning deeply beneath the appearance.
Liu：As the first partnering artist of Ming Tai Space’s Emerging Artists
Solo Exhibitions Program, you are going to host your first solo exhibition
in 2015. I heard that all your works for this event are new. Then how are
they different from your past works?
Feng：They actually represent the continuation and organization of my past
works, as well as the idea of returning to my early styles. Different from the
past works, the new paintings feature pure white as background, and their
contents are abstract objects like they are in my earliest works. I used
deconstruction and unconventional visualization as the most recurrent
methods for these paintings, which are also named in a unified way, plain and
simple. In general, I tried to reduce the elements in the new paintings and to
clarify the object hence to highlight the concept. I believe the image should
serve the concept, so simplifying the image can convey the essence of the
concept in a more direct way. I also went further with the concept - the general
direction remained the same, but I added views from more angles. Moreover, I
revisited the observation method, from exploring the possibility of realizing this
method in multiple forms, in the past, to reflecting over the substance of this
method. Anyway, people feel the world in different ways, and the audience’s
feelings represent an important part of my works, so I shall just leave the
audience to see my new works and generate their own feelings. Before we
finish, I’d like to thank Ming Tai Space for launching such a good program,
which is lucky for both the artists and the audience. I really appreciate your
sincere services and professionalism, and hope we can cooperate in the future
as well.