When I see more works full of profound speculation and emotional expression, I always want to calm down and avoid making my heart too heavy. By chance, I came across a few small paintings depicting everyday life, but I felt healed, it was not to cater to anyone or express anything specifically, the painter seemed to be quietly telling you: "I am me, just be happy." ”
The work of artist Sun Yan gives people such a sense of ease, random tone, no clear theme, and even the title of the painting is short and rough, but it gives people a cool feeling, low-key but not dull, gentle and powerful.
Sun Yan
Be a painter with no ambitions
Sun Yan is the most "Buddhist" artist he has interviewed, and he summarizes himself as: "I have studied painting since childhood, graduated from a scientific class, graduated from Buddhism, and have no great ambitions." "Parents are teachers, when they were young, they were influenced by their families, they grabbed their father's brush to play at the age of a few years, and the road to growth naturally went to the art major, after graduating from the Art College of Henan University in 2010, they studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy, and returned to their hometown Zhengzhou after completing their studies.
"I'm not a very ambitious person, and I'm happy to live a little easier." According to Sun Yan, a typical day is "painting, playing tennis, traveling or finding friends to play, looking at mobile phones, and sleeping."
Kitten, oil on canvas, 20×20cm, 2021
The Ball Flew, oil on canvas, 20×20cm, 2021
In words, you can feel the "coolness" of Sun Yan, there is no excessive material desire, and it is easy to satisfy. Or, for him, a relaxed, comfortable, slow-paced life inspires a passion for creation.
"I have always had the thinking of a science student, I used to treat the identity of 'artist' as a profession, I painted regularly for 6 hours a day, and I had to clean up the pen and palette after painting, and later, I thought it would be better to take painting as a hobby, but more comfortable and happier." Like the Italians, their lives are more idle, but it is easier to produce good works. ”
Thanks to the ease and idleness of life, Sun Yan's creations are mostly handy, mostly depicting his daily small things, even simple and a little bit like words, the ladybugs flying in his hands, the kittens next to him, can enter the painting, chat about a few strokes, but the ordinary is interesting.
Ladybird, oil on canvas, 20×20cm, 2021
"Picking Up the Ball" Oil on canvas 20×20cm 2021 Sun Yan's creation is always handy, and small daily things can also be painted
Sun Yan's circle of friends recorded a moment of picking up the ball
"Summer", oil on canvas, 27×35cm, 2021
Delicate and romantic feelings
For Sun Yan, painting is also a channel for his own catharsis, he said that the best experience of painting is a blank canvas, the complex and indescribable emotions in his heart are painted on it, and they can be vented at once. Therefore, the picture looks casual, if you read it carefully, you will feel the delicate and rich emotions in Sun Yan's heart.
The Bird and the Ball, oil on canvas, 50x40cm, 2021
For example, in recent years, there have been people around him, he has painted a lot of works with flowers as the theme, but few are blooming flowers, mostly withered and decayed, Sun Yan wants to use flowers to convey his thoughts on life. "Although the flower is about to disappear, it has also struggled hard, a feeling of being born of death. He felt that life and death, love and hate were all unavoidable propositions. The flowers depicted in the oil on canvas may have the hue of Morandi, or the brushstrokes such as Monet's "Water Lilies", but in Sun Yan's bones, he naturally carries Chinese concern for nature and life, just like the ancient literati inkers who inscribed poems for falling flowers and felt nostalgic for withering. However, he turned the chant of poetry into a depiction on canvas.
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Falling Leaves, Oil on canvas, 50x70cm, 2019
"Spring Flowers" Oil on canvas 60x150cm 2020 Because of the epidemic in recent years, Sun Yan also painted such gray and dead paintings
When the weather is good, Sun Yan will also go out to sketch, he remembers once in Italy sketching, a fox sat next to him to watch him paint, a wild boar with a group of small wild boar running in front, "in the distance a black cloud floating, you can see the rain falling from the clouds, the sun is shining overhead, the wildflowers under the feet are turning with the wind", such a romantic feeling, can turn the sketching process into a painting.
Rice Field, oil on canvas, 80x80cm, 2019
Landscape Sketching
Oil on canvas, 40x50cm, 2014
Only "advanced" in the bones
In addition to painting, Sun Yan is also a ashes museum fan. Surprisingly, he has been playing with collecting since he was a teenager. For many years, visiting museums was an essential part of his travels, and he once tried a trip to Paris and watched the museum for 14 days, so that his friends were dissatisfied.
In the "brush pavilion", Sun Yan will always be deeply impressed by the ancient civilizations of the East and the West, looking at the grottoes and portraits of the Northern Dynasty, he will be in awe of the lines carved by ancient craftsmen; in southern Europe, he will indulge in the ancient civilization that was born in the local area, once in Greece, Sun Yan spent a day driving from Athens to the remote countryside, just to witness the bronze statue of the Apollo Temple...
Italian Sketches, oil on canvas, 40x50cm, 2013
"I also see artifacts as plastic arts, and my love for museums stems from the Mugu complex, and painting comes from life and culture." Even though Mugu is good, Sun Yan has always rationally separated it from painting, and he treats the two as two different hobbies.
Therefore, it is rare to see in his works which ancient civilization elements he borrowed in terms of technique or subject matter. Sun Yan hopes that the influence of ancient civilization on him is subtle, and does not want to be directly and bluntly introduced into the picture, so it is not "advanced", and the real "advanced" is the spirit and charm revealed in his bones. Just like the Chang yu he admires, even if it is a small scene of vase flowers depicted in oil paintings, Chang Yu's profound traditional cultural heritage still makes his works permeate the arrogant and indifferent style of literati painting.
"Flowers", oil on canvas, 90×90cm, 2018
Chestnut Shell, oil on canvas, 50x40cm, 2019
This is also the direction that Sun Yan is working towards. It is simple to draw, but it is not easy to reveal a sense of strength and charm. When it comes to the future, he also has an indifferent mentality, insisting on starting from the point he likes, taking advantage of his youth to be "changeable", abstract, figurative, expressionist and other styles and directions can be tried, he does not want his paintings to be stereotyped prematurely, and the road behind is still long.
Of course, the most important thing is to make yourself happy and have a relaxed life, and that's enough.
THE END
Edited | Yutian
Pictures, materials | provided by the artist
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