Feb 2, 2023

By Li Tang

Li Tang Community interviewed VillageOneArt’s co-artist Timon I to share his thoughts on exploring painting and his journey as an artist.

LT: We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Timon: My path to becoming a painter is quite different compared to others. I planned to become a fashion designer when I graduated from high school. I spent two years studying fashion design until I switched my major to illustration during my sophomore year. After that, I spent another two years doing illustrations. I finally decided painting and fine art are my passion, so I enrolled in a master’s degree in painting at the New York Academy of Art. As you can see, I studied many different things compared to other painters. In a way, it’s a good thing because fashion design has taught me the importance of aesthetics, and illustration has taught me how to communicate with others through visual language. So when I approach painting, I approach it like a designer. I start most of my work as a project and give them a theme, just like what I learned in fashion design. I also chose a more realistic style instead of an abstract style because I believe it has a more accessible visual language for the viewers to appreciate and understand.

LT: There is a gentle touch of lights in most of your paintings. What ideas are you exploring in your practice? What is your art about?

Timon: There are two projects I have been working on—the psychological project and the flower project. The psychological project is about creating the “uncanny.” I put figures in the sense of strange or mysterious space that allows viewers to define or get inspired by the moment.

The flower project, on the other hand, is about questioning reality. I put fake flowers on the street at night and try to create an artificial nature. With the power of painting, I wanted to make them as beautiful as real flowers, so the viewers may question how vital reality is.

Both projects heavily focus on light and space because I believe they are a universal language that connects with the viewer. The viewer doesn’t need any knowledge to understand and appreciate the beauty of a sunset or a moon’s reflection on the lake, so they won’t need the knowledge to enjoy the artwork or get told by a professional why they should like it.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow    Oil on canvas                       Presented by VillageOneArt

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