A Dream Comes to Life
Ren Zhenyu
Living in such a pompous, flashy and multi-cultural environment, I have always tried my best to uphold some sort of independence. It does not seem to be quite logical, but I firmly believe that certain things on earth never change; the only thing that changes is our perspective, the way that we see at things.
A well talented artist can always develop a sense of enlightenment from his own living experience, and come up with all sorts of questions to our lives. Questions raised do not necessarily lead to immediate
solutions, but if a good question is formulated, its solution will seemingly come up naturally. The
correctness of such solution is not important; the most important is the question itself.
Today, multimedia artworks are getting more popular, and painting on canvas in studio is no longer the only way. To me, such a trend is both a challenge and an opportunity. There are no rules in painting. Everything is possible, just like a golden touch finger. I believe that a well talented artist must possess such ability and quality in order to create. Thus, under all circumstances, an artist must paint as if he was painting on his first day in art school, keeping his mind clear and paint in good manner.
Being an artist, one must be willing to sacrifice, and contribute whole-heartedly with all one’s effort. An artist is like being a flower. People will only appreciate and remember the moment when the flower is to blossom, and for most of the time, although there are no other flowers or even green leaves aside, an artist should insist to work hard. This is a path of no return.
So, why don’t we live vividly and make our lives more colorful? To me, painting may not be ingenious, but it must be something great. It is a way to learn and understand myself. This process may not be understood by others, but I still think that it is wonderful, because it is a true reflection of mine, and this gives me power.
In my everyday life, I may not have paying too much attention to art itself, I am keen to do something else, like shopping, dining or even looking for a wedding announcement in newspaper columns. These daily lives are so real and lively, and I am very excited about being a part of it. That’s why I always love to live on the outskirt, and to keep a distance from art. It really helps me to keep a strong passion for art.
Back to my recent works, I tried to use the image of “Mao”, a well known consumer icon in pop art, to develop a new interpretation and perspective to all art appraisers and audiences. I called it an “alienation effect”. At this point, I would prefer not to put to much ideology into my works. I just want to present the very special feature of this particular moment in time, even if it is empty and hollow.
We are being called “the new generation of flowers bloom under socialism”. Living under such a new
phase of socialism, reforms and transformations have deeply altered my traditional education. “Mao” is just an icon in my works, an icon that can help to interpret a dream in my mind, and I would like to share it with you all.
August 8, 2008
