Frame 61April 29, 2020

Peihang Huang

Frame 61April 29, 2020

“I want to create something that draws attention to the space, suggesting it’s inspired from something that might have existed.”

Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background? Where did you study?

I spent a few years in the United States when I was young, and then moved back to Taiwan before settling in the UK; but fate brought me to Paris last year. Taiwan is an island 180 km off the coast of China, where the official language is Mandarin. It’s very different to China but has an history of entanglement: it has a democratic government and rights, like gay rights, that China has yet to give to its citizens. Sadly, people tend to confuse Taiwan with Thailand, especially when you talk about food and massages! This can be a little awkward, but more often than not it leads to some funny stories. I was drawn to painting from an early age and studied fine art at university. I took my BA and MFA in Taiwan at the National Taiwan Normal University (it got the ‘Normal’ from the French École normale supérieure), and got an MA at the Chelsea College of Arts in London. I am lucky to have studied in two different traditions – east and west – and this has influenced my work. It’s led me to rethink my own identity and changed my perspective and my understanding of space.

Your paintings have been described as spaces of ‘exploration’. Colours unfamiliar to the natural landscapes they depict; fluorescent pink & orange, lead to a feeling that we, the viewer, are also entering new environments. These same colours are at points soft and dreamlike, and at others, alarming. How do you see the role of colour entwined with subject matter?

Color is the medium I use to give a sense of the unreal in my works. I want to create something that draws attention to the space, suggesting it’s inspired from something that might have existed. Sometimes the choice of color goes beyond the subject that it becomes almost abstract, but I try to walk the line between figurative and abstraction. I love to push the boundaries of color, and use combinations of color that seem unworkable at first. That’s not to say that my methods are random; they are intentional. The colors I use are refined and, ultimately, selected through a process of experimentation, and, in using them, I want to generate real tension that evokes genuine emotion.

In your latest body of work, ‘Youth Activities’, you used as inspiration photographs from your mother’s time, during life in Taiwan after the Chinese civil war. Is this the first time that you have used imagery, from a time and place you were not present, as a reference? Did the fact that these were not your direct memories affect the work?

I have always used my own memories and recollections from others as reference points for my work. I find it particularly interesting to interpret the memories of others. When I think about other people’s memories, I am conscious of the gaps in my understanding of their lives; all I see or hear is a cross-section of their lives and never the totality. For instance, my mother's memories are important to me, and I'd like to know more of them. But, to recover her memories and understand how she experienced them is impossible, because I did not live her life. Memory is inevitably fragmentary, particularly when dealing with others recollections; in the gaps, all I can do is insert my memories to create a new mixture with distinct meaning. This is how I insert my own imagination into the displaced memories of others. I am not trying to be an historian, but, true to the work of an artist, I am attempting to find a particular window through which I can observe reality and express it anew in my own work. I want to know how the lives of others relate to my own. I want to understand what we can learn from the history and the memory of others, and what this implies about the nature of human beings and behavior. These are the issues I try to address in the process of creating my art and in the final product.

Nora-Swantje Almes talked about the idea that your paintings explore time and layering as conceptual themes which can be linked back to the idea of what painting, as an act, is. Have you always been drawn to painting because of its ability to layer and manifest periods of time physically and visually?

Painting is a result of movement, color, and material. The patterns and colors draw you in, but it’s important to look deeper than the superficial elements of any work. When you look into the detail of the texture of any painting, you see it in a completely different light. There’s always something new to look at and consider, no matter where you look in a painting. I try to keep those elements of painting close enough to each other on the canvas, but not erasing it to indicate the trace of time. I like my work to retain a raw quality and not be too polished, so that I feel the canvas reflects the effort I have put into creating it. Every movement remains visible so the people can go on their own journey when looking at the paintings. The layering, the fragments, the structure, the brush points; in either harmony or in conflict on the canvas. This experience echoes my perspective and the structure of memory.

The paint is applied with an expressive and physical technique, as though we can view your movement documented on the canvas. Was this developed through particular inspiration or research or was it a physical journey of trial and experimentation?

I wouldn’t separate the research and the physical journey, it has to be a bit of both. That is what I find unique about painting. It’s not just the content and the research, but visually it has to work; otherwise it doesn't make sense at all. I usually set up a framework of the subject and gradually start to experiment to try push the limits of this framework, such as the color, the structure. My work is an emotional response to a certain memory, it is an intersection of the content and the form so it cannot make sense without one or the other. I start with something that triggers me; usually a real event, and question what it means to me. This method applies especially in the Youth Activities series. It is about understanding someone I care about and questioning what her life means to me. I have to establish this before I can move onto painting the picture itself. From there, I try to deconstruct the questions through the visual investigation It relies on spatial repetition and the creation of discontinuities between images transferred into the painting process. So, I jump back and forward to compare, to experiment, to explore through painting, which evolves through trial and error on the canvas. The result is the documentation of movements, layers and colors.

Tell us a bit about how you spend your day / studio routine?

What is your studio like? My studio is located in a suburb called Aubervilliers, just at the edge of the north east of Paris. Unlike studios in London, which are usually managed by a not-for-profit organisation - such as Space studios, ACME or V22 - the ones in Paris depend on artist collectives to manage a space of their own. They are usually smaller in scale compared to the ones in London and have a pretty diverse group of artists. Instead of registering with an organization and waiting in line, artists in Paris take more initiative to create their own work spaces. I joined a collective of 15-18 artists and we have an individual space on our own in an old factory, which is a very cool brutalist building with high ceilings and shared kitchen spaces. I usually arrive in the studio around between 11:00 and 12:00, and leave between 18:00 and 19:00. Having my stomach full is essential to kickstart the day. I tend to start the day by having my lunch in the studio and replying to emails at the same time. I have a shelf just for food in the studio, and seeing it filled with food keeps me content and feeling safe. Depending on what I am working on, I start by planning new works on my laptop or work on smaller canvases. A tea break is between 15:00 and 16:00 is essential! Sometimes I walk out of my studio and chat with my fellow artists, exchanging ideas, before going back to work. After my tea break, I work on larger, more time consuming works, before heading home by 19:00 at the latest.

Is there anything new and exciting in the pipeline you would like to tell us about?

Yes, two things in particular. I just had a newborn baby and she is the biggest creation I’ve ever had. I have enjoyed everything about motherhood so far, and feel like I have unlocked a new part of the world I never understood. Although my time in the studio is rather limited at the moment, it being a mother is rewarding for my work as it has given me new ideas. I am looking forward to that continuing my evolution as an artist and a mother. I also have a solo show coming up at Yiri Arts, Taipei in Taiwan next year during Taipei Dangdai. I am happy and a bit shy at the same time, because I haven’t shown much physically for a while in my hometown. It’s quite scary even to think about it right now. It feels like a check point moment that will allow me to consider what I have achieved in my work in years abroad. I am excited and feel incredibly humble to be able to show the development of my work to people in Taipei.

peihanghuang.com

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All images are courtesy of the artist
Date of publication: 29/04/20

Frame 61