Jiaqi Li

jeekwai@foxmail.com

The following statement based on three key terms: the way of seeing, duality, and the use of characters (words) as images.

I paint to re-think our way of seeing. Today, the media of television attacks the words, and the mobile phone connects people in an intangible way. These electronic objects luminate in the dark. The lights attract and absorb our attention. Utopian imagination becomes a cover for traumatized reality. With 80% of our knowledge of the world derived from narratives rather than direct experiences, we find ourselves living in a time that aligns with Jean Baudrillard’s theories from four decades ago. The preoccupation with discerning what is real or unreal has lost its urgency.

During my formative years, Hollywood played a significant role in shaping my worldview but in voids it also created pockets of alien culture. The Hollywood way of seeing - emphasizing appearance visually and confrontation narratively - subtly permeates my artistic practice. I strive to find opposition and conflict in my paintings, whether it be between “real and unreal,” “reality and virtual,” “you and I,” “positive and negative,” or “inside and outside.” Duality runs through my work.

Characters, or words, are also an indispensable part of my work. Their shape have a strong stability once the design is finalized. Visually, they support half of each painting. Conceptually, they deconstruct the image’s content. These characters are not merely written; they are meticulously painted. Their ornate nature harkens back to the theory of Hollywood’s way of seeing, where appearances dominate. Through their grandiose styles and designs, they reflect the superficiality prevalent in the world.

下文从三个关键词展开个人陈述，解读创作。它们分别是：观看，对抗，画字。

我希望通过绘画来反思我们日常的观看。电视媒介攻击着文字媒介，手机电话用隐形的方式联系着人和人。这些器物在黑夜的环境中闪闪发光。这些闪光像烛火，人们像蛾。乌托邦式的想象总用来掩饰饱受创伤的现实。当我们对世界的认知有80%来自于叙事而非直接体验，我深知当今世界正默默践行着让·鲍德里亚四十年前的理论。执迷于眼前的真假在今天变得似乎不再迫切。

恰好“我的童年就是好莱坞”。好莱坞在我的年幼阶段充当了世界观构筑的重要角色，然而其构筑的又是一个个文化真空里的泡泡。好莱坞式的观看方式——视觉上突出表象，情节上突出对抗——也若隐若现地体现在我的创作之中。我试图在绘画中找到对立和冲突。它们可能是“真和假”“现实和虚拟”“你和我”“正和反”或“内和外”。二元性贯穿了我的创作。

文字也是我作品中不可或缺的部分。文字符号自设计完成始，其形状便具有极强的稳定性。通过视觉样式的修饰，它们支撑起了一半的画面。在含义方面，它们解构着画面的内容。这些字符并非通过书写，而是通过刻画呈现出来，其自身的装饰性又把它们带回到好莱坞式的视觉表达讨论上。我也借此用浮夸的样式设计捕捉这世间一些轻浮的状态。