Set Stages
As an artist, Jiannan Wu’s specialty is in carved resin reliefs and sculpture. As an observer and urban analyst, the New York-based Wu’s real talent however, is in carving cavernous portals in space and time. Jiannan Wu’s reliefs are open windows to stories and narratives reminiscent of our everyday reality – only smaller, stiffer, and more deliberate. Wu’s technique scrapes away the curtains and covers within the material realm and sets the stage for original characters and props to rehearse dynamic dramas. Each scene incorporates slices of life from the clutter of the urban world, the closeness of the countryside, and the moments which pass us by. Wu’s elaborate displays drive deeper into space the more you look, what may appear to be a minor skit is often more of an everlasting performance.
Part One: Who is Jiannan Wu?
Question One: Who are you?
I’m Jiannan Wu, a New York-based artist. Now I’m the faculty of NYS Summer School of the Arts, Elected Member of American National Sculpture Society, Member of American Medallic Sculpture Association, and Member of Council of Overseas Chinese Artists Association.
Question Two: Who are you as an artist?
I am a visual artist specializing in figurative sculpture. I incorporate different interests into my work. Currently, I’m working on a series of realism and narrative reliefs in the theme of contemporary urban life. I‘m the recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant and winner of 2017 Dexter Jones Award presented by American National Sculpture Society.
Question Three: What do you absolutely need your audience to know about you or your work?
My art prominently features the theme of people’s daily life in a narrative way. Selfie Series is about the selfie phenomenon among the young generation, Subway Series presents different subway scenes in the New York metropolitan area, and the current ongoing Country Love series restores the country life in Northeast of China. In my sculptures, I try to express my love for life and my faith in humanity through conveying the interest and vitality of people’s daily life in humorous and realistic style.
Question Four: What has the process of making art taught you or given you?
Find your own “language” rather than simply make a “style”. The former is intrinsic and inborn while the latter is superficial and can be learned. So, be true to yourself and be sincere to your creation.
Part Two: Infinite Depth
What is your artistic practice?
I consider myself a storyteller, solidifying an ongoing segment of the story scene into tableaux and inserting corresponding interest and thinking into it. By putting “people” under my spotlight, I focus on the shaping of each character’s personality and details. Each scene in the work is a stage, and each character has his own audience.
Relationship of two-dimensional images and three-dimensional sculptures is of interest to me, so I adopt relief for most of my works with resin, making them a combination of paintings and sculptures in some way. Relief is a suitable format to present the space, to provide better concentrated experience, and to engage the viewer in an unfolding narrative. The exploration of perspective in relief appeals to me, that is, how to use perspective and color to express the sense of infinite depth of space in the compressed reliefs. In this way, I’m playing a little game using compressed spatial volume to make some illusion, which is different from the traditional three-dimensional sculptures. In addition, I often apply features of classic painting in terms of the composition and some stage-set approaches in my works.
2016
Acrylic on Resin
60” x 51” x 11”
2020
Acrylic on resin, wood
9×9×3
2018
Painted resin, metal, wood
16” x 19” x 4”
2019
10×10×1.75 inches
Acrylic on Resin and wood
2020
Acrylic on resin and wood
8×10×3.4 inches
| Where/ How can Vacant Museum viewers see more of your work and where can they purchase it? |
| They could see more of my art on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiannan_wu/ and the exhibition “2020 Vision” curated by David Kratz and Stephanie Roach ,at the Southampton Arts Center, on view July 25 – December 27 |