Yuri Yuan
Yuri Yuan in her studio at Columbia University.
Yuri Yuan (b. 1996) is a current Visual Arts MFA candidate at Columbia University School of the Arts. She was born in China, grew up in Singapore, and gained a BFA with Distinction degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2019. Yuan was recently featured in New American Paintings magazine #147. Yuan’s works have been shown at Make Room Gallery, Los Angeles; The ROOM Contemporary Art in Venice, Italy; ArtForum International; Sullivan Galleries, Chicago; and Siragusa Gallery at SAIC, Chicago. Yuan was awarded many distinguished awards: Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Institutional Scholarship, Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, and SAIC Travel Scholarship. Upcoming exhibitions will be at Make Room Gallery, LA; Alexander Berggruen Gallery, NYC; and the Wallach Gallery at Columbia Lenfest Center for the Arts.
Can you tell us a bit about the process of making your work?
As a painter, I use mostly traditional oil on canvas or panels. Most paintings start as an idea or image that comes across my mind through dreams, memories, or observation. Memories filter away unnecessary details as we are only able to remember meaningful moments of our lives. Dreams are where our subconsciousness is free to wander, “the return of the repressed” as Freud would say. I am always looking for these moments of connection where the images or narratives break away from reality. I translate these moments onto paper in the form of sketches and piece them together onto canvas. It usually takes me a few weeks to think about the compositions and color palette in my mind before I start the actual painting. It is also important to me that the painting is more than an image, that it is aware of itself as a painting.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on a large painting (6x10ft) as part of Columbia MFA’s Open Studio/ Thesis exhibition. I am going to lose my spacious studio in August so I am using my remaining time to make ambitious pieces.
125th and Studio at Night, 2021. Oil on Board, 11 x 14 in.
You have your painting categorized as "Looking In" or "Looking out" on your website. Can you talk about this distinction and what it means to you?
Initially, I categorized them as “big paintings” and “small paintings.” The size of the paintings depends on the emotional intensity of the concept. For example, most smaller works are like diaries; they are about what I saw, what I did that day. Most bigger paintings have heavier emotions; they explore grief, longing, and tragedy and therefore occupy more emotional and psychological space. I had a studio visit with Kyle Staver, a painter I really admire, where we talked about how I categorized these paintings. She made me realize that it is not about the different physical qualities of the canvas, it is about the different ways of looking at the world. The “looking out” pieces are more observational, the eye of the painter is like a curious child exploring the world. The “looking in” pieces are generated by my inner emotions and reflect on mortality as a human experience.
What are some references you draw upon in your work? Are there any themes in particular that you like to focus on when creating?
Ego, 2021. Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in.
I draw inspiration from many different things, like Murakami’s short stories, Bojack Horseman the animation, and existentialist philosophy, especially Camus. “Aloneness” is a common theme in my work. Rather than dwelling in the sad emotion of “loneliness,” I think of the protagonist in my work as someone who constantly reflects on their experience and their connection in this world. Many people asked if the back-facing figure is me and if these paintings are self-portraits. The answer is no, they look like me as they are made in the image of me, but they are more like a signpost, or a witness to an event, for the viewer to project their own emotion onto the narratives of the paintings. Over the past year, I have been thinking about personal loss and how they translate to global tragedy, the private grieving process juxtaposed with the bombarding and politicized news of the pandemic. I certainly do not hope to provide an answer, but to give space for the audience to process complicated emotions.
Where are some of your favorite spaces that support contemporary art or design? Now that the art has an online presence has that changed? (feel free to pick a neighborhood or type of space to narrow things down a bit! you can also feel free to pick a location that inspires you and share about that)
I think the overwhelming online presence of art made me realized how irreplaceable the physical experience of looking at paintings is. I went to the Frick Collection on Madison a few weeks ago and it blew my mind. (Well, it is not a space for contemporary art.) It has been so long since I last saw those masterpieces in person. The great thing was that the museum did not allow cameras so you really have to use your eyes to look at the works. As a huge painting nerd, I spent a long time looking at the big Turners, thinking about the contrast between tiny sharp figures and broad-stroke gestural storms. It reminded me of the amazing collection of Turners I saw at Tate. These are the thoughts and experiences a screen can not provoke.
Starfall, 2021. Oil on canvas, 72 x 96 in.
I have been trying hard to invite people to see my paintings in person, despite difficult Covid situations. I am really glad that most people said “wow these look so much better in-person” as I would hate to be that person whose work looks better on Instagram.
Do you have any shows coming up? Anything else you would like to share?
Yes, I am in a group show at Make Room Gallery in LA in June. Some of my classmates and I are planning a group show at a project space in Yonkers, NY. I will have my debut solo show in New York in July at Alexander Berggruen Gallery, which I am really excited about.
Yuri Yuan’s work is included in our show “The Alternative States,” May 3 - June 30, 2021. Visit her Instagram (@yuri_hatake) to see more of his work.