Emma Hapner, Deng Xiao, Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu, and Xianglong Li
Artist interview by Yining Fang · March 2024
In New York, VillageOneArt has had the privilege of collaborating with young artists from diverse backgrounds — a conversation about identity and artistic creation in a culturally intersecting space.
Art in the contemporary context is far more complex than in centuries past. Rather than seeing today’s art as independent of context, we might consider it a product of mediation between cultures — grounded in an artist’s original background yet altered through their encounter with a globalized world. We spoke with four artists about their motivation for making art and the ways inspiration, personal experience, and memory entwine in their work.
Emma Hapner received her MFA with a concentration in painting from the New York Academy of Art. Originally from Indiana, she earned her BFA from Ball State University, and works primarily in oil on canvas to create figurative works from a female perspective.
Deng Xiao blends neoclassicism and surrealism, combining styles to create new meanings — an interplay of traditional and modern, objective and irrational elements that challenges convention and the boundaries of art.
Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu bridges his upbringing with his interests in gaming, technology, culture, and architecture. He paints, with selective additions of tape, collage, and 3D elements, often telling the story of small experiences.
Xianglong Li remixes material from pop culture, internet imagery, philosophical texts, and 3D models to explore ruins, social events, and everyday life. His painting is rife with morbid jokes, cultural mistranslations, and the fragmented morality behind racism and burnout.
Can you tell us about your background as an artist?
Emma Hapner. I’ve loved art and aspired to be an artist for as long as I can remember. One of my first memories was using a step-by-step drawing book to draw a ballerina; I also loved drawing Disney princesses. I got more serious in high school, where I was the only person in my art class and had a lot of creative freedom. That was when I decided to major in art and pursue my BFA at Ball State University. One of my professors recommended I apply to the New York Academy of Art, and I moved to NYC in 2020 to get my MFA there.
Deng Xiao. When I was in art school, the curriculum only focused on the training of skills, such as a long “Oil Painting Human Anatomy” course that required up to seven weeks painting models in detail. Compared to that, I prefer creating things that interest me. By painting what you want to paint, you also hone the basics; and as your skills improve, the work gets better and better.
Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu. I always had an interest in drawing and painting in textbooks as a child and got into tons of trouble for it. I played a lot of video games and watched a lot of cartoons, and it has come to manifest in my work with loud or subtle themes of excitement and thrill. I started pursuing art right after a first degree in architecture — I fell in love with how it applied function to spaces and people, then realized I could tackle the same things as a painter, engaging space rather than having people experience painting as a singular entity.
Xianglong Li. I was born in a third-tier industrial city in China during the 1990s. Like many young people, I grew up watching animation and Hong Kong gangster movies. Today my life is immersed in the street culture of Brooklyn and social media, whose fragmented information, dark humor, memes, and emojis shape the way people communicate and perceive reality. Through my art I describe everything: how I live, how I play, how I work.
What are some works that you’re particularly proud of?
Emma Hapner. A recent work I’m very proud of is Girl’s Best Friend, a painting of me in a sparkly red cowgirl outfit on a pink horse. It was inspired by David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps — I loved taking that iconic, triumphant image and placing myself in the scene. It feels like an exuberant celebration of femininity, down to the hair clips, gems, and beads in the horse’s mane and the glitter and tassels on the outfit.
Deng Xiao. A contemporary artist’s works are more like research on a topic within a system; each work is a part of the whole. To understand an artist, you look at all the works in a series, not a single best or favorite piece.
Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu. I’m particularly proud of Tactical Potato — a piece that communicates my familiarity with gaming and energetic color. I’m equally proud of my “painting fragments,” small pieces that act as extracted information rather than sketches, presenting precious little moments with more significance: the interplay of tape and underpainting, layers of gels and paint to line work.
Xianglong Li. I often depict the people and experiences around me, but present them in a cinematic, gaming, animated atmosphere. In Atlantic City, I portrayed a car accident my friends and I had on a road trip as a scene from a Hollywood movie, the flames placed low so the crash becomes a pivotal moment in the film. Life is more interesting than art; I enjoy seeking unexpected thrills from it.
What is your creative process?
Emma Hapner. My ideas often begin with a painting I love in art history; I analyze what draws me to it, then take reference photos of myself, sometimes collaging several together. I always start on a pink background, lay in an underpainting of quinacridone red, let it dry, and paint the skin tones first before moving to the rest.
Deng Xiao. I pre-set a systematic framework and language patterns, then freely add imagination and topics — religion, social issues, historical stories. I make a picture, set it aside, and change it occasionally; after a month or two I look again, and if I still like it, I’ll paint it.
Xianglong Li. Apart from collecting stories while traveling, I’m addicted to social media apps like Instagram. I capture many interesting photos every day, and these abundant images serve as both material and inspiration for creating the “absurd stories” in my artwork.
How do you approach a new project or idea?
Emma Hapner. When I have a new idea I’m excited about, I move very quickly, harnessing that urgency to get the ball rolling. I rarely struggle to come up with ideas — I struggle to get all of them out — so it’s important to work fast. Once one idea becomes a painting, ideas for a whole body of work branch out from there.
Deng Xiao. I divide new projects into two categories: incremental and radical. The former needs to be prioritized, while the latter needs to be examined to determine its feasibility.
Xianglong Li. Continuously experiencing new hobbies and life, making friends with people from different industries, and seeking out new and touching stories. Life will teach me how to approach the next project.
How does your cultural background influence your work?
Emma Hapner. My upbringing really inspired my perspective. I’m one of several sisters in a very girly family — tea parties, dressing up, baking — and my mother surrounded us with beautiful things while building her own business and pursuing her PhD. Watching her embrace both strength and femininity was deeply impactful.
Deng Xiao. For today’s young generation it’s hard to say what expresses their identity and cultural background; everyone is integrated within a diverse system.
Xianglong Li. Living in New York, I often experience alienation and uncertainty; life can seem fractured. I adopt a nonchalant, worldly attitude on social media, using humor and memes to brush off those emotions. The playfulness and even absurdity in my work aren’t necessarily criticism — they’re a way of examining and reflecting, a “negative positivity” that ultimately leads to release.
Founded in 2018, VillageOneArt is a women-led contemporary art gallery in Chelsea, New York, showcasing local and international artists of diverse backgrounds.
This interview was produced by VillageOneArt; it also appears on LiTang Community.
For inquiries regarding available works by Emma Hapner, Deng Xiao, Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu, or Xianglong Li, please contact info@villageoneart.com.