We recently connected with Jingting Wang and have shared our conversation below.
Jingting, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I found myself being more comfortable expressing myself in a more abstract way. Instead of piecing my mind in words, I prefer to either draw them down or turn them into another physical form. Before I learned how to weave, I though I will keep making art as an interest. After I got introduced to textile, especially weaving, I found myself deeply connected to those threads that I touched. I think there is a sense of intimacy between my hands and the threads since textile is a media that requires a lot of physical involvement. In my last year in high school, I made a series of woven textiles for my senior exhibition. I spent over 150 hours making one of the pieces which is a huge landscape tapestry that is made out of my own hand spun yarn. When I was making that piece, I told myself if I finished this piece without feeling impatient, I will chose textile as my major in college. After high school, I decided to continue learning textile in college. Now, I am learning textile in a more broad and experimental way both as an artist and designer. For me, there are still a lot for me to explore and learn since there are so many thoughts and purpose intertwined in one piece of fabric.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Jingting Wang, currently an undergraduate student majoring in Textile with a drawing concentration at Rhode Island School of Design. My focus lies at the intersection of art and craftsmanship especially in textile.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I’m a type of person who want to express themselves but in a less strait forward way. I have to admit that I want my audience to resonate with my work. However, I think I am the one that got the most benefits and energy when I finished a piece. Turning something in my mind into an actually piece is the most rewarding moment for me. In textile, the design process is always one of the hardest part since I have to find the most suitable to make the artwork. Undergoing the design process with all the calculation and planning also made me satisfied in somehow. I guess is because of when focusing on work isolated me from the outside disturbance, and I enjoyed those moments when I don’t have to think or worry about anything else. As long as I have my hands on the looms or those cones of yarns, I am fulfilled and rewarded.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I learned textile from two aspects. The first one is leaning towards to fine art, and the second one is related to design and technical textile developing. I am always fascinated by the possibilities that textile offered me. There are so many fields that need textile. People always ask me what do textile people do after graduation, and my always ask back saying what do you think you are wearing. it seems like apparel and fashion designers are more related to the clothing that everyone wear, but textile design is the base of those clothing and upholstery. Textile exists literally everywhere in all kinds of forms. I think for me, the motivation or goal that is driving myself is that endless results that I can get out of textile works. Even though textile’s history is really long, I still want to challenge myself to be able to create things out of the impact of traditional textile works.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lwanggg.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisawanggggg_/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jingtingwanggg