In the world of art, there are those whose passion for creativity transcends traditional mediums and techniques. Wu Yang is one such artist. Her unique blend of fabric design, painting, and installation art has captivated audiences and left them in awe of her creative vision. With a background in fabric design and a move to Canada that inspired new subject matter, Wu Yang's work is an exploration of the relationship between hard and soft materials, as well as a symbolic and conceptual female visual language. Join us as we delve deeper into the mind and art of Wu Yang and discover what the future holds for her creative endeavors.

1. Can you tell us more about your background in fabric design and how it influenced your career in art?  I have always been fascinated with the composition of patterns, their various styles and how each component influences the others. Colours, shapes, continuity, repetition, and their simultaneous interaction comprise a pattern’s overall effect. The style of a flat urban design has an influence on my creations set in the future and even stays with me through the creative process.     2. How has your move to Canada influenced your artistic style and the subjects you choose to explore in your artwork? I was so impressed by the abundance of quartz minerals present in Canada that when I got my easel set up, I felt the urge to paint these stones scattered around cities, seashores, and deserts, with floral-patterned swathes of fabric either draped over or tied around them to create these surreal images that have stayed with me and my children for almost two decades now. These quartz crystals had been taken out of their natural environment and transformed into the focus of the painting, becoming patterned, fabric-wrapped quartz rocks that gradually evolve within my images, becoming imbued with my aesthetics and bearing my cultural imprint. 3. Can you describe the process of combining your passion for painting and sculpture (installation) into your work? The creative process is sometimes passionate or sometimes frustrating, just like the weather is sometimes sunny or sometimes rainy. Both scenes are possible.

4. How do you deal with the contrast between hard and soft in your art, especially when you use patterned fabrics and stones? Wrapping hard materials in elegant softness, either covering them up or even confronting them, is a way to soften and lighten their appearance, while it can make the heavy material seem to float in the air in order to augment a strange and surreal image. 5. Your work often has a symbolic and conceptual female visual language. Can you talk about the inspiration behind these themes and what they mean to you? My artwork contains very feminine imagery of rough quartz stones with a floral-patterned surface; an appearance that changes the original properties of the mineral and augments a visual relationship between the two that is both antagonistic and balanced. The antagonism within the frames can be seen as a confrontation between the sexes that is inherently tense, restrained and even elegant. The setting feels dreamy and features a little girl standing alone in the world holding only a single piece of cloth that she is wrapping around the quartz stone repeatedly. The vast expanse of the land, the infinite shore, the suspended quartz stone, and the floral-patterned petals of the flower are not real; however, they contribute to the scene without creating a sense of time nor a sense of space. This is the idea I wish to convey with my painting. 6. Finally, what can we expect from you in the future? What upcoming projects are you working on? From the beginning of the pandemic until now, I have been combining quartz stones with the image of a human in order to give the quartz structure a soul and not just a glamorous appearance. I wanted to use this vehicle to express the confusion and helplessness of the moment. Such quartz figures act also in the realm of “liminality,” the psychological process of transitioning across boundaries and borders. I am currently in that state and creating them daily. 

We hope this interview with Wu Yang has left you inspired and intrigued by her unique artistic approach. To see more of Wu Yang's captivating works, be sure to visit our website, fei.art, or follow us on social media @feiart_group. We will continue to showcase the talents of innovative artists like Wu Yang, so don't miss out on the opportunity to discover more captivating and thought-provoking works. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to sharing more exciting content with you in the future.