10 Questions with Yannie Gu

Yannie Gu currently lives and works in New York. She got her B.A. in 2020 from the Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, and is currently enrolled in the Visual Arts Administration M.A. at New York University, New York, NY. Between 2017 and 2022, she has participated in solo and group exhibitions across the USA.

www.yanniegu.com | @yanixgu

ARTIST STATEMENT

Yannie works primarily in the mediums of drawings and painting. The subject of her artworks concentrates on exploring women’s self-identities as well as human psychological activities while facing collective and personal traumas. Drawing inspirations from photographic source materials and films, she often creates surreal settings in her artworks with the use of a playful color palette, conducting discussions on the idea of femininity through different characters with her audiences. Lying between realistic and representational artistic styles, Yannie’s paintings capture vibrant figures in a variety of actions that further reflect women’s deeper insecurities and uneasiness through a voyeuristic lens. Subject matters, including delusions and heavy emotions that are difficult to delineate through words, can find their way into the visual stories she constructs.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell us more about yourself. What is your personal background, and how does it influence your work? 

I'm a student and an artist. I'm 24 years old, and I grew up in Shanghai, China. I moved to New York for college when I turned 18. Having lived in big cities, I'm always interested in humans and their collective relationships with each other. Growing up, I also paid much attention to women around me, such as female members of the family, my ballet teachers, women I saw in the shopping mall or on the subway, etc. I found them beautiful in their own ways, and I have always got inspired by them as a little girl. As a result, humans, especially women and their inner world, have become a central theme in my artwork over time. 

What about your studies? What was your path to becoming an artist? 

I was lucky to have received creative training since I was very young. My parents just took me to those weekend classes in the neighborhood, where they taught kids how to draw. However, even though I've been drawing for a long time, I didn't take my artistic side seriously until college. I went to this private liberal arts college in the suburbs of New York City, which I think is one of the best decisions I've made. It's like a small utopia for artists where you would receive a lot of support and constructive advice from your professors and other fellow art students. It was a mind-opening experience. I experimented with drawing, painting, photography, and other mediums at the school. Since there is also a huge art community in New York, it was a reassurance for me to start taking up a creative path. 

You work both with paintings and drawings. How did you choose these mediums over others? And how do they influence your work?

I chose painting and drawing because two-dimensional works speak to me more. Also, I simply enjoy the feeling of creating something from nothing in a blank pictorial space. When painting my characters on the canvas, the use of brushes and oil paints slows down the process, enabling me to investigate any details that need to be emphasized.

In your work, you explore "women's self-identities, as well as human's psychological activities while facing collective and personal traumas," as you mention in your statement. How much of your personal experience is reflected in your work? And what are your other sources of inspiration?

Yes, I often draw inspiration from my personal experience, but at the same time, I try not to make them too stand out in my artworks. In other words, my intention is to create a safe space for open discussion about femininity or feminism with my audiences instead of making it too personal. As a young woman, I'm still trying to figure out many aspects of adult life. For example, many of my female friends excel at work, and some take leadership roles in their professional life. In my perspective, they are superwomen. However, when walking home alone at night, they would feel unsafe with the fear of being followed. During these kinds of moments, you're reminded that you're still a small, fragile woman. On the biological level, women are more vulnerable than their male counterparts. But they are also very strong and capable. My artworks wish to picture the complex dimensions of women's self-identities. My other main source of inspiration is films. The cinematography and dialogues from movies would usually bring some inspiration for my next project. 

What do you see as the strengths of your work? And how do you see it evolving over the next few years? 

I see my art as a body of work that is constantly evolving, but the strength of my most recent work is the colors. The color palette is often the first thing people would notice. I like to use them as indications of different emotions. 

In your paintings, color seems to have a central role, just as much as the characters presented. They are either soft and delicate or striking and vibrant. What do they represent for you, and how do you choose them?

As I previously mentioned, I often use colors to represent the emotions of the characters in my paintings. For example, desire is usually in red, while melancholy and depression are conveyed through dark brown or blue palette. I would also use vibrant colors to create tension and contrast between my fictional characters or to emphasize certain details that I want my audiences to notice. 

Is there any other theme or technique you consider introducing in your work? 

Theme-wise, I plan to keep focusing on exploring women's self-identities and their psychological activities, such as the insecurities of being a woman. Technique-wise, I do want to introduce airbrush painting into my work sometime. I've seen some of my other artist friends working with this technique - the blurred visual effect of airbrush paints looks so delicate on a surface. I need to learn about this technique soon. 

What do you think of digital exhibitions and presentations? Are you experimenting with these, or are you into more traditional ways of presenting your work, like physical exhibitions in galleries and museums? 

Digital exhibitions are great! They make life much easier for both the galleries and the artists. Personally, since I moved a lot in the past few years, I don't have an entire collection of my paintings with me. Up until now, they are still scattered in every city I've stayed in, which creates a lot of difficulties for me to participate in physical exhibitions. I have gained audiences for my work from other cities and countries thanks to online exhibitions and social media. On the other hand, I do think traditional exhibitions attract a larger number of local visitors, and not every artwork is suitable for online presentation. Works like large-scale paintings and installations are ripped off their magic when they are turned into a photo online.

What are you working on right now? Do you have any new projects or exhibitions you would like to share with our readers?

These days, I'm working on a series of small paintings about women's hands. I choose to work on small-sized canvas because currently, I am only able to make artworks in my apartment. Not to sound creepy, but I love to observe different people's hands. I think hands speak about a person's identity on a level without you speaking to that person. Especially women's hands, they are full of emotions, either subtle or heavy - they could be gentle, sensitive, capable, resilient, and many more.

Finally, where do you see yourself five years from now?

Well, my mind always changes in a snap, and I'm open to possibilities. Right now, I'm still in graduate school, but I will definitely keep making more artworks and working to become a better artist. That is for sure. After five years from now, I hope to see my creative concepts and techniques grow more holistically.