We recently connected with Kuan-Ya Wu and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kuan-Ya, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

If I were to define my family, I would always think that it leans toward the traditional side when I was a child. I grew up thinking of art as a hobby and less like a career as I thought a career should always be something stable and should be those jobs that start at 9 and end at 5. I moved to the United States when I was 18 and was exploring the majors in community college before I set my mind on what to study and pursue for later on in 4 years, and that’s when I realized that I don’t think I lived to fullest if I decide to have a regular job from the start. I know I can study a less creative major, but I also know I won’t be able to fully commit or I might not be able to always keep myself interested. Whereas art, for I have been learning since I was in kindergarten, has gradually become part of my everyday life, and is hard to detach from it. I want to take the chance to make it the career of my life and see where it can take me to. Every job comes with its struggles, but to make the struggle count, I want the thing to be struggling for something that I know I can always be passionate about.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a multi-disciplinary artist and curator based in Los Angeles, California. While born and raised in Taiwan, moving to LA was both exciting and worrying. The cultural differences and language gap give rise to my insecurity about who I am and how I act with people around me and that’s where my research of finding safe space began to sprout. My recent works focus on installations that explore the idea of a safe space. Often they are driven by a deep curiosity and interest in the details and objects of our everyday surroundings and their relationship with the feeling of security and insecurities. With my practice growing through time, and with experimentation of how a safe space relates to diverse scenarios, with expressions of sentimental and generosity. In my practice, safe space is not confrontational, it is a space where black and white exist and so is the grey area in between; safe space is somewhere private and intimate, where I encourage my audience to feel vulnerable when I begin conversations with them with sincerity, such as a handwritten letter. I create realms that feel surreal but keep a sense of familiarity to still be able to understand the language, to feel related, and to have a beginning point to start thinking. My curatorial practice began in late 2020 when I first interned for the exhibition department at ArtCenter College of Design. In spring 2022 I curated my first group show with fellow students through ArtShow Club, a student club under the Center for the Student Experience. I believe myself to be a people person as I enjoy the process of connecting with diverse fields of artists as well as coordinating groups to achieve an amazing art experience. I find that flexibility and subjectiveness are generous and have the power to bring people together regardless of their backgrounds. My interest in the everyday environment expands from my artwork to the way I curate. I am inspired by works that are close to people, easy to approach, and welcoming, and hope to celebrate art and artist stories to the public in the language that they can feel related to and find belonging.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

In my art practice, I see making art as a comfort. Or it can be a therapeutic experience of looking for comfort. As my topic surrounded the idea of a safe space, I was actively finding things that make me uncomfortable, and feelings of vulnerability. In a way, I am looking for my weaknesses and learning to accept them and come to the conclusion that it is okay to not always be okay. I found the world somehow fast-paced and critical, and wonder how often people stop and check in with themselves, or if we just try to keep up with the world until we start melting down. I hope to create a quiet but intimate experience for my audience, that provides a space for them to pause and rest with their mind. I hope to keep them company in the process, that we all experience exhaustion, uncertainty, and insecurity, and there’s nothing wrong with all these things. I hope as I find comfort in making work they can also find comfort in experiencing my work.

To be able to interact with the artwork sometimes requires the audience to understand the artwork. But even as an artist I sometimes feel art is hard to approach, either because the language used in the industry is not made for everyone to understand or maybe the connection was not as clear that it’s hard to connect the dots. In my curatorial practice, I hope to bring the crowd closer to art, as art was not supposed to be hard from the start, I want to help artists tell stories that can allow the audience to understand them. I enjoy the art experience that asks me to think harder and knowledge me of topics that needed to be aware of. However, I also thought that being serious can also be light sometimes, for me that allows me to digest better with all the information that the artist wants to bring to the table. I hope to create this kind of art space through my exhibitions.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are two moments that I find most rewarding as an artist. One is the moment when the works are completed and another is the first impression of my loved ones when they see my work. There’s that sense of self-achievement when completing work, which I believe applies not only to artists but all kinds of work. I work based on plans that almost look like a science experiment, a list of materials set and measured beforehand, a timeline made to be followed every day to understand how much workload I have, and of course, a blueprint. There is that expectation of how the work will end up looking, like the theory that is expected to be proven. And it always feels amazing when a theory is proven right, if not I would always think of it as a happy accident that leads to more potential. The feeling of 0 to 100 is very fulfilling.

While I work alone on the making part of my projects, I tend to talk to people around me about the concept I am aiming to accomplish. Conversations with the people around me are how I find inspiration and that is also a way for me to continue brainstorming. This led to them knowing what I am working on but doesn’t know what the work looks like. It is interesting to see their first reaction and see how they finally connect the dots. The expression of amazed and surprised always provides me the rewarding pleasure, as if all the hardship pays off, especially when everything makes sense and allows them to understand immediately. I feel rewarded when knowing that the story comes through.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kuanyawu.cargo.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_kartsy__/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kuan-ya-wu-650b2920a

Image Credits
Kuan-Ya Wu Amanda Villegas Yao Deng