We recently connected with Yuanjie Chen and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yuanjie, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

This is a pretty good question. As a student in a painting program focused on record landscapes, rigorous modeling, and excellent skills, I never considered myself an artist. I paid more attention to the presentation and appearance of my work. I supposed I could be a painting teacher to instruct people how to make some beautiful things. However, with the growth of age, I realized that is not my thing. It’s a little hard to pinpoint the accurate clock or day I wanted to be an artistic professional. Still, when the following two feelings came up, the foggy goal of what kind of professional I should be in the art world gradually became clear.

Desire of expression. It is more about an impulse I have to do. Thinking and introspecting are my mannerisms. That is my healing way for my sensitivity. The visual form of piling brushstrokes, sculpting clay, and transforming plentiful materials is just a behavior to outlet and prop up the process of thinking. I enjoy the process of creating so much that when I stop, I feel rusty with all the sentiment in my body. This was the pivotal moment and reason who whispered in my ear to tell me that art life was a part of my life.

Love and responsibility. I believed doing art was a selfish job before I was ready to be a professional artist. When I created a really integral artwork and hung it on the wall in a white cube to show, I found the labor of creating is exactly love and responsibility. The responsibility is that I need to work hard to find ways to express my philosophy and make the audience think about it. And that motivation is love. It is a giving and selfless sharing. The timing of wanting to pursue a creative path professionally is being ready to show the result of my thoughts and art.

Yuanjie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Yuanjie Chen. I’m born In Fuzhou, China. I’m a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City.

My art primarily features blood-like dripping wax, square concrete slate, neatly mended yarns, and totems of abstraction and concreteness, which are about thinking of my family origin, suspicion of self-consciousness, and nostalgia for Asian culture. My work is about exploring the inheritance that my family has passed down to me beyond just physical traits, such as genes, appearance, and financial support. I also investigate the concept of self-consciousness and whether it truly exists, as well as what influences my decision-making process. These philosophical investigations are at the core of my artistic practice.

Through the concept of my artwork, I express my thinking process, often portraying a sense of hurt or the act of hurting me or something about me. The wounds I depict are not fatal or squirting but rather chronic, constant, and bleeding. My work seeks

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The long-term goal I have always had is to be an artist who dabbles in all kinds of knowledge and theories in different fields. I prefer to learn exciting, other thoughts rather than focus on the news and history of art. I would like to have a coffee or an appointment with engineers, athletes, scientists, or other experts. Usually, I could harvest a lot of exceptional ideas from them. As we know, the most shining part of art is the thinking and understanding of the natural world from human beings. I believe the more things I know, the more art I produce that is worth my audience thinking about. Moreover, I’m also willing to try more new materials, forms, or techniques for my art studio practice. An artist’s mind is infinite, and experiencing various possibilities is able to find a personal and specific brace to prop up colossal ideas.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I feel like juggling different roles is the most valuable part of my creative career. I appreciate a point of view from an artist I admire, “To be an artist requires not only exceptional creativity but also the wisdom of a businessman and the volubility of a speaker.” I enjoy being a creative person in my studio and a gregarious guy to introduce my art at an exhibition’s opening. It should be associated with the answer I gave in the first question. Different engagements could give me more ideas and improve more aspects of my life and career. I was a super introverted person who was barely able to talk to strangers about my art, even with simple greetings. When I decided to become an artist, I was determined to open my mind to promote my art to the public, discuss art history with other artists, and negotiate organizations of exhibitions with gallerists. After becoming an artist, I become more attentive to my craft, more talkative to others, and more willing to engage in administrative work. It’s just a process of self-worth realization.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yuanjieyj.com
• Instagram: yuanjie_yj
• Facebook: Yuanjie Chen

Image Credits
1, Portrait 2, Archipelago 3, Banner 4, evolution 5, Home 6, Installation overview 7, Installation overview (2) 8, Labyrinth