C+CT: How retail and hotel work together
09th October 2024 | Hot off the press
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On the couch with: Yu-Hsuan Wang
Last year, artist Yu-Hsuan Wang was commissioned to create a mural as part of the GA Group renovation of Seasons by olivier e. at W Taipei.
With meticulous attention to detail, Wang’s work intricately weaves together a narrative of the chefs’ passion, highlighted by hidden elements of seasonal produce. This captivating piece perfectly embodies the restaurant’s refreshed ambiance.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Yu-Hsuan to explore the inspiration behind her work, her creative journey, and the artistic process that helped shape this unique dining experience.
Firstly, can you tell us a little about your background and yourself as an artist?
I am a freelance artist from Taiwan. I studied and worked in France for about seven years before moving to Shanghai for work. Last year, I returned to Taiwan to settle down. Before becoming an artist, I worked as a graphic designer for a while. My work often focuses on themes related to nature and the land, primarily expressed through painting and illustration, though I am always exploring other mediums and possibilities.
Please can you talk us through your process for this piece? From concept through to completion.
The theme is “From Farm to Table,” using black and white lines.
Taipei is a city surrounded by mountains, so I used layered mountain-shaped curves in the artwork. The black lines can represent mountain ridges, clouds, or tea fields. Taiwan has a rich variety of agricultural products and fruits, and I want to highlight this by creatively combining plants. For example, I put beans, wax apples, and sugar apples together on one plant. I also included common crops like sweet potatoes and taro among the mountain lines, and added large leafy greens by the mountainside. Daylilies bloom alongside rice, bamboo shoots, and fern buds, with some vegetables having tiny claw-like hands.
The process started with small pencil sketches, which were later redrawn onto larger paper. I drew the mountains and plants separately, then scanned everything into the computer. After converting the drawings to vector format and making adjustments, the final piece was printed as wallpaper.
What were some of the highlights or challenges you faced while collaborating with G.A Group on this recent project?
The theme requires the integration of urban environments with natural landscapes, so I spent some time thinking about how to smoothly blend these very different scenes together.
In the end, I chose some elements, such as transforming the shape of the building into geometric forms and placing them between mountain ridges, simplifying the lines of night market carts, and combining the lighting from signs into long or circular shapes. The use of curved forms also helped these elements blend more naturally into the background.
What do you hope viewers takeaway from your pieces?
My work frequently integrates the forms of animals and plants.
Sometimes, when I look at a tree, I feel like its extended branches resemble many arms and legs reaching out and waving toward the sky. Or, when I see the roots of vegetables or grass, they seem as though they are about to start moving and walking. These observations inspire me to incorporate them into my artwork.
I try to capture the vitality of plants because all living creatures have their own ways of expressing themselves. In addition to grand natural landscapes, I hope viewers would discover small corners filled with a sense of life, inviting them to reflect on the stories of the land.
What upcoming projects or themes are you excited to explore in your future work?
After learning how to dive a while ago, I was amazed by the underwater world, which feels very different from what I had seen in videos or aquariums. It opened up a new perspective for me. Recently, my personal creations have started to explore the ocean, try to present the elements like seaweed, corals, fish or other animals. I look forward to discovering other possibilities in the future.
Finally, please can you share a piece of art that has had a profound impact on you, either as an artist or as an individual?
Sharing just one art is difficult because I feel my creations are influenced by many artworks.
I’d like to mention a photographer, Joan Fontcuberta, who explores strange scientific phenomena through art. He questions the reality of photography, which is often used to depict truth. His work blends realistic yet fictional scenes to explore this idea, offering a humorous critique of scientific images, like those of plants and animals. This made me realize that not everything we see with our eyes should be immediately accepted as truth. Sometimes, we need to pause and reflect on what is real, and as an artist, think about how to interpret it in our own way.
By Juan García - Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101281029
