Han Yajuan and her solo show at Eli Klein featured in Vogue China’s December, 2011 issue
We would like to direct your attention to a feature on Han Yajuan in the December, 2011 issue of Vogue China. Vogue interviews Han Yajuan about her new works and personal style and accompanies their article with coverage of her opening for her current solo exhibition at Eli Klein Fine Art, Indulgence and Transcendence.
http://www.ekfineart.com/files/Vogue_Han_Yajuan_December_2011.pdf
English translation:
Han Yajuan’s works largely incorporate fantasy and reality, and she boldly integrates the lenses of materialism into her paintings. She depicts her cartoon girls with unrestrained passion, dressing them in top-tier fashion brands, imbibing them with striking personalities, representing these fearless and independent women in China. Consumerism-powerful, optimistic, elegant, and rich-surrounds them, and they revel in its pleasures; and yet, materialism does not dictate their lives. Han Yajuan herself likes to read fashion magazines, and in her works, she delves into considerations between people, objectivity, and spatial dimensions. She tries to utilize a vision that transcends the bounds of reality to observe and express the existence of “materialism.” In these pieces, the cute female protagonist manifests themselves in three-dimensional sculptural forms, and even amidst a variety of spaces, they sustain the play between an indulgent and transcendent mentality towards reality.
Talk to us about the meaning behind your work?
My recent creations consider the relationship between people, objectivity, and space, and I attempt to use a kind of perspective that transcends reality in order to observe and express the existence of physical “materialism.” Through deconstruction and the overall composition, a multi-dimensional perspective presents itself, and this creates an effect that can highlight the interplay between people, objectivity, and material culture. This type of thinking originates from our curiosity and suspicion of the unknown world, and our investigative probe into the “unknown” behind “existent reality.” And this “unknown” factor may well influence and construct the elements underling our “existent reality.” This time, the collaborative works with “Vogue Fashion and Beauty” also maintain these considerations. The feeling of distance presented in these works and the musings inspired by the perspective of materialism in multi-dimensional space show that reality is not what it appears to be. At the same time, the cute female protagonists in my works appear in the form of a three-dimensional sculpture, and she sustains the play between an indulgent and transcendent mentality towards reality in a variety of spaces.
What is your understanding of the “materialism” concept?
I am more concerned with enjoying it from a head-on and enthusiastic perspective; objectively viewing “materialism” as it exists in the physical world necessitates one to remove the self from the “world.” In addition, one has to attempt to use a perspective that transcends reality while witnessing and expressing these sorts of “materialism.”
Talk to us about your understanding of fashion?
I consider fashion designs of high caliber to be artworks, and fashion designers of high caliber to be artists. The only difference is, designers use different materials as their creative and expressive means, and they allow their works to have powerful functionality. Therefore, fashion is the combination of art and trends, cohesively binding humankind’s intelligence and aesthetic appreciation. I very much enjoy wearing a beautiful piece of fashion and the uncontained joy and satisfaction that it brings. I am also willing to restructure fashion, as this process of reconstruction always brings about endless surprises.
What is your personal style?
I like clothes that have a clear structural feel, that look precise. They don’t require too many accessories to have a great impact.
If you had to personify “Vogue Fashion and Beauty” into a girl, what do you think she would be like?
She’s the perfect “It” girl, with a clear point of view and attitude. She walks the fine line between trends and art. Her every move in every era will spur and influence the development and value inclinations of fashion.
Indulgence and Transcendence will be on view at Eli Klein Fine Art through December 11, 2011. For more information, please contact the gallery at +1 (212) 255 4388 or info@ekfineart.com.