Living in Singapore is a great place to start investing in Chinese art. If you’re more into modern art than the traditional style, you might be wondering where to buy contemporary Chinese art. JIA WEI is a leading Chinese artist known for his signature avant-garde style featuring a fusion of art and technology. Here we speak to him about his background in innovative product design and his creative process. His solo exhibition ‘Ruhua Wilding’ at Linda Gallery features easel painting, sculpture and LEGO art installations.
Tell us about yourself and your journey from product design to Chinese modern art.
I was born in Northwest China. From the age of three, I loved sketching and painting with my mother. Growing up, I had a private art tutor who helped to develop my technique. Studying industrial design at university in China, I went on to have a career spanning 30 years as an entrepreneurial industrial innovative designer. My company LKK Design focuses on product design, and I’ve created thousands of products from small daily items like food packaging, to large scale works like aircrafts. I have been fortunate enough to receive 568 design awards worldwide. It’s only in the last five years when life took an unexpected turn that I’ve returned to my roots and launched myself as an artist.
How did a series of unfortunate events in 2018 inspire you to start creating modern art?
In a short space of time my factory burned down, my partner embezzled ¥50 million, my father had a stroke, my relationship ended, and I was diagnosed with serious health problems. It was the lowest point of my life. Unwell, in debt and with all my designs destroyed, I had no choice but to re-evaluate my life. Material possessions are impermanent; it can all be destroyed in a second. This also coincided with the world being challenged by COVID-19. All felt hopeless. It was only in stepping back and pondering the real meaning of life that I reignited my passion for art.
You retreated alone to the mountains for six weeks. Tell us about your creative process.
I needed to escape from the big city noise and spend time alone away from the pressures of modern life. The three key elements of my healing journey were being in nature, hiking and meditation. This allowed me to clear my mind and reconnect with myself, and the creative juices started flowing. The concepts for my artworks came to me during this time.
I now do this every year, spending six weeks away surrounded natural environments like mountains or lakes. This is when I feel the most inspired.
How did art help you to work through this hard period of your life and bloom again?
My world was dark, my heart was grey. So, I used bright, vibrant colours on the canvas to make me feel richer, more optimistic.
I came to a realisation that I had to self-heal, to find my own inner strength. Once achieved, inner strength is a power that no person or external influence can take away. My modern art is an expression of the idea that the heart is like a flower, it can bloom at any time. I call it “one flower, one world”. It’s closely aligned to Chinese Buddhist concepts. Every person can build a world of their own. We can transcend to the immortal world where we don’t need material things. You can live forever and take whatever shape you want (a hippo, a cloud, an elephant or a tree) unconstrained by the confines of the human world. It’s very free, a place where you can express pure emotions and there is no such thing as “bad”, only “good”.
Becoming an artist is a realisation of your childhood dream. How is this reflected in the style of your work?
When I began painting again, Ruhua, a long-forgotten character from my childhood, emerged. Ruhua is a cute little baby figure – one that we all naturally want to take care of and hug. Babies express emotions freely, yet to be constrained by societal constructs of right or wrong. There are no disasters in their world, no frustrations, no setbacks. Just joy. The character is a way for me to love myself. The whimsical style of my pieces reflects this freedom.
The ‘Ruhua Wilding’ exhibition is whimsical, trippy and colourful. How do you hope it will make the audience feel?
Simply, I want my modern art to make people feel happy and hopeful. On a deeper level, I believe that everyone is like Ruhua. We can all confront life’s impermanence and challenges in a solitary way while embracing the spirit of perseverance. I invite my audience to join me in my wondrous world. Untamed yet harmonious, I seek to stir the inner child of those who seek longevity, beauty and endurance. I want viewers to voyage along the wilding trail of Ruhua and pursue the bloom of immortality.
The exhibition showcases 35 pieces of your most prolific works. Do you have any favourites?
Yes, this one! [Jia Wei points to the ‘Ruhua scorpion’ piece printed onto his t-shirt, pictured above.] It reminds me to be brave and playful in the face of seeming danger. And ‘Rainbow in Abyss’, the crocodile LEGO art piece (pictured, below). It symbolises maternal love, power and strength.
Oh, that LEGO art sculpture is incredible! Tell us how this came to life.
The painting came first. Then I approached Prince Jiang, China’s most famous LEGO art-certified professional to help me turn it into a sculpture. Together we used a computer simulation to design the blueprint of pieces and colours needed. It took over 400,000 LEGO Bricks, 1200 hours and 6 people including Prince Jiang and myself to hand-build it. Such a satisfying project.
Do you have any advice for other artists just starting out?
Have lots of exhibitions of your work to get your art out there. Don’t focus so much on the location, just try to influence as many different types of people as possible with your work. I currently have eight exhibitions on in all kinds of venues, from here in Paragon, to a maternity ward in China. Another idea is to make unique digital pieces of your art and sell them to people cheaply, so they have a small piece of your work of their very own. I did this and charged only $6 a piece. Now some of my pieces have sold at auction for over US$50,000. Start a dialogue and the rest will follow.
Any plans for future modern art exhibitions?
I’m always creating. Watch this space!
About Linda Gallery
Linda Gallery was established in 1990 in Jakarta, Indonesia and later expanded with spaces in Singapore and Beijing. For over 30 years, the gallery has been promoting Chinese and Southeast Asian art and providing an international platform of exchange for artists, curators, collectors and art institutions. It persistently cooperates with influential and potential artists, showing exhibitions of high quality as well as participating in well-known art fairs, thus drawing Chinese and Southeast Asian artists ever closer to international dialogue.
To find out more about Jia Wei’s artworks for sale, reach out to Linda Gallery.
Linda Gallery
8133 3380 | info@lindagallery.com
lindagallery.com
Liked this article about Jia Wei, an emerging Chinese artist and innovator in product design? Now you know where to buy modern art and LEGO art, why not check out more great articles in our Homes section?
You can also purchase the latest issue or subscribe to Expat Living so you never miss a copy!
And, to make the most of living in Singapore, read our latest City Guide here for free!
