Fragments by Yukai Du
With colorful and daring brushstrokes, award winning Chinese-born illustrator and animator Yukai Du opens portals to worlds that exist within her imagination. Drawing inspiration from her memories, travels, and literature, she translates each slice of life with her unique style.
The exhibition Fragments presents a painted past and landscapes from the now UK-based artist’s journeys as a traveler. As she picks apart these places and spaces, she portrays them in her own visual language and injects her surreal and impressionistic interpretations into the art. Often, landscapes are personified, achieving playfulness and mischief while maintaining calmness.
Yukai’s influence are rooted in her upbringing in Southern China, foundations in traditional Chinese painting, and appreciation for Chinese literature. Specifically, Fragment by modern poet Bian Zhilin has inspired the artist to build new realities from the abstract.
On the surface, Yukai’s work primarily strikes a fine balance between reality and imagination. Dig a little deeper, and more symbiotic relationships emerge. Fullness is juxtaposed against the emptiness, and the observer against the observed.
Through the marriage of animation and illustration in her work, Yukai’s images could be understood as a single frame or a singular moment. There’s an imaginary time before and after, hence the feeling that her works overflow the frame. Despite the graphic explosion of colors and lines, there’s a silence that reverberates beyond the painting.
断章
屡获殊荣的插画家与动画师Yukai Du杜钰凯出生在中国,她用丰富多彩的大胆笔触,为我们打开了一扇通往她想象世界的大门。她的作品灵感来自于回忆,旅行与文学,以独一无二的风格,诠释了人生的方方面面。
展览 《断章》 用画笔为我们展示了这位现居英国的艺术家作为旅者在旅程中的回忆与风景。杜钰凯拆分了这些地点与空间,用自己的视觉语言进行描绘,并为这些艺术作品加入了她超现实、印象派的诠释。通常在她的作品中,风景是拟人化的,有趣、俏皮、不羁的同时,却仍然能保有一份平静。
杜钰凯的艺术启蒙,来自于她在中国广州的成长经历、她传统绘画的基础以及对中国文学的喜爱。特别是在受到中国现代诗人卞之琳的作品《断章》的启发后,杜钰凯决定从抽象中构建新的现实。
从表面上看,杜钰凯的作品主要体现了现实与想象之间微妙的平衡。但若再深挖一寸,更多共生关系便会浮现:丰满与空虚并列,观察者与被观察者共存。
杜钰凯的作品往往是动画与插画的结合,这些作品可以被理解为一个单帧或某个时刻。前后都有虚构的时间,因此她的作品往往给人一种溢出画框的错觉。尽管画框内是色彩与线条的狂欢,但总有一丝静默在画框之外回荡。