26. YING ZHENG - A SPACE BETWEEN CONTROL AND THE UNCONTROLLABLE.
Emergent artist Ying Zheng describes the creative process behind her degree show titled: ‘Purity of true feelings’. - LONDON.
‘Purity of true feelings’ - Image courtesy of the artist.
1. 'Purity of true feelings' is a fascinating body of work resulting in pieces that seem to be charged with emotion, please can you describe the story behind these sculptures?
My practice has always explored topics like social alienation, consumerism, and the human experience. I hope my art helps people reclaim their humanity and uniqueness in an increasingly commercialized society. I have made works related to romantic relationships, such as my work LUST FOOD.
During this year at The Royal College of Art, I wanted to continue my previous direction of creative content but focus more on the exploration of human nature. I chose to record the emotional fluctuations and sincere feelings in romantic relationships as a starting point for my work.
I want to express the concept of "emotional fossil". I recorded and preserved precious and innocent feelings in romantic relationships through the medium of ceramic sculpture. Because this is the precious and pure thing in human nature. The main body of my sculpture symbolizes our bodies, which carry our unspeakable feelings. Emotions that flow internally - squeezed out like a mobile body through a porous structure and rush to the surface.
None of my sculptures have specific names because of the uniqueness of the individual's experience and feeling of colours and shapes. I want the viewer's experience of my work to be interactive and emotionally resonant. I hope (the audience) will be able to define for themselves what each sculpture means to them.
2. The properties of ceramic and glass are very specific and yet within your work they meld in a very personal way - what were the moments of discovery within the making of these works?
The glazes in ceramics, a continuous vitreous layer attached to the ceramic body, are a mixture of vitreous and crystalline. So the glass is also part of the ceramic. The main body of my work is clay with Gloop glaze.
I chose this glaze as the main body of my work because when I first came across it, I was attracted and impressed by its plasticity, versatility, and strong visual impact. I see this glaze as a powerful visual language as if its fluid relationships and that nature of surprise and uncertainty were speaking for the artistic ideas I was expressing. And the process of exploring gloop glaze is a wonderful experience. Each time I open the kiln, it has both predictable and unpredictable effects. The theme of my work is more in favor of the presentation of emotions. Emotion is a spontaneous, variable, uncertain, controlled but uncontrollable feeling, which makes me even more certain that gloop glaze can play its unique role as the main medium of my work.
3. You mention within the notes, which accompany your sculptures, that 'the superego' was key within the creative process - can you expand upon this?
The word "superego" comes from Sigmund Freud's theory. Freud's theory also inspires me in my artistic content creation. In his theory, he mentioned the three parts of self-consciousness, the ego, the self, and the superego (Id, Ego, and Superego). All human mental activities can get a reasonable explanation from the connection between them. The superego is the controller in the structure of personality and is governed by the perfect personality. By referring to this term, I want to show the source from which conflicts and contradictions between different individuals may arise in human romantic relationships.
The sculptural forms and porous structures in my works symbolize the individual's 'body', the container of the mind. They contain the 'superego', the moral and social norms. This precious innocence is also filtered and supervised by the 'superego' and exists in a stable and lasting form. The glaze flows like a liquid between the pore structures, symbolizing the conflict and emotional flow within the 'superego', as if every pore is capable of overflowing with intense emotions.
I want the work to present the complexity of the inner world and psychological processes of the individual by exploring the innocence of feelings and emotional changes in romantic relationships, as well as the Freudian notion of the 'superego'.
4. Having previously lived and worked in radically different locations around the world, what has your time in the different places and London taught you?
Since my undergraduate studies, I have not had a permanent residence and I have often traveled in new cities. The different countries and cities I've lived in have made a special impression on me.
For example, big and small cities in China, Gothenburg in Sweden, and then London. Being in China is a comfort zone for me because the culture and language are close to me and where I grew up. It taught me to be hardworking because of the large population and competition.
Sweden brings me a sincere and introspective feeling, and what impresses me most is their Lagom culture: not too much, not too little, the right amount. living and studying here is less stressful and easier, and people don't have a strong desire to chase fame and fortune, so I have time to enjoy life and think about the meaning of life.
In London, I am amazed at the diversity of society and how inclusive it is to individuals, and I don't feel like a foreigner when I live here. However, as the world's economic, cultural, and trade center, the fast pace of life in London can be stressful. However, under pressure, there are also a lot of opportunities. It has taught me to understand the uniqueness of individuals and to feel confident in my differences.
5. Do you have a mentor, or key teacher who has guided you and if so what have you learned from them?
My mentor is Annie Cattrell, who is also a glass and multi-media artist and researcher. She does not primarily work with ceramics, but I have received a lot of useful guidance and encouragement from her throughout the transformation of my work, especially in terms of the formal expression and artistic content of the work, and I am very grateful to her for her help. Of course, I was also fortunate enough to have single tutorials with other mentors, such as Felicity Aylieff's remote tutorial, which also helped me to confirm my direction. The final project Purity of true feelings is a new direction for me in the use of materials, which is a big contrast to my previous works. Previously, I was more focused on realistic sculptures and installations. I remember fondly that during a short study trip with Annie, she took our group to Hayward Gallery to see 'The Strange Clay - Ceramics in Contemporary Art' exhibition. The works in the exhibition included my favorite ceramic artist, Takuro Kuwata, and I was blown away by the possibilities of ceramics, a traditional material. This experience was a turning point in the transformation of my work.
Image courtesy of the artist.