Zheng Hao Zhong 郑皓中
Artwork’s Title: HUYIKUAN1
Materials Used: Oil on canvas
Studio Based: Shanghai, China
Can you talk about the process of creating your work? 你可以给我们讲讲你创作的过程吗？
Sure. I think I am a traditional artist. I draw and paint myself, the environment as well as people around me. I can’t just go out and paint somebody. For example, I don’t think I can paint my parents, at least for now. Maybe I can sometime in the future. This is because the person I am painting is actually myself: if I see a part of me in this somebody, I would love to paint them. People might say that “you could just self-portraits,” But to me, painting myself is a bit too dull. As a painter, I trust the painting process entirely because it is essentially a medium that helps me communicate myself with the unknown. Sometimes when I am in the process, a painting will inform me about the future that is yet to happen.
可以，我觉得我是一个传统画家，我画我自己，和我周围的环境以及人，我不能随便去画任何人，我的意思是我甚至不能去画我的父母，我指的是现在，也许以后我可以画，因为我要画的这个人其实就是我自己，假如我在这个人身上看到了属于我的那个部分，那么我就想去画，可能有的人会说，“那你可以只画自己啊。”但是只画自己对我来说太枯燥了，我是一个信任绘画的画家，我不是一个不尊重绘画的画家，我相信绘画是一种沟通自我和未知的媒介，有的时候我在画一幅画，在这个过程中这幅画会告诉我未来发生的事情。
How would you define your work in a few words (ideally in 3 words)? 你可以用几个词语来形容你的作品吗？最好3个词语
Unpredictable, negative-space, traditional. 诡谲多变，留白，传统。
How did you come up with this new painting idea of HUYIKUAN1, (2020)? Is there any story behind this work? 你新作品的灵感来自于哪里？作品的背后有什么故事吗？
I am recently painting a new model. It’s been four years since I last painted like that. We schedule a time for him to come to my studio, where we eat, talk, and tell stories about each other. Then we find the right moment and start painting. He also participates in my drawing process. For example, he would say: “let’s maybe add a dog here, ” or he would want me to portray his shoes in a specific painting technique. I started painting my first model in 2012, and the relationship lasted for four years before he disengaged himself from the relationship. We split. I hated him and burned his face on one of those paintings about him. The burn left a black set of smoke on his face, which creates an alternative rhythm and form. My hatred vanished. After that day, I started painting yellow lines on his face. Now our relationship is back to normal, and those paintings document my complex mental states.
我最近在画一个新的模特，我已经大约有四年没有这样去画了，我们需要约定好一个时间，他来到我的画室，我们一起吃饭，聊天，各自讲述自己的很多故事，然后在一个最合适的时候开始画画，他也可以参与到我的绘画过程中，譬如他会说你在这里加一只狗吧，或者他说选择一个画法去描绘他的鞋子。2012年我开始画我的第一个模特，我画了他四年，后来他不想让我继续画了，我们绝交了，我恨过他，我在画他的一张作品上面烧了他的脸，一团黑色的烟雾在他的脸上，让这幅作品有了另外一种节奏和形式，我的恨意消失了，后来我就开始在他的脸上画一些黄色的线条，如今我们和解了，这些作品见证了我丰富的心理。
Do specific artworks have been created by random experiments in your studio or do you always come up with a particular concept or narrative in the very beginning? 有没有哪些作品是你在工作室的随意的实验产物，还是在你创作的开始你总是有些特别的想法或者思路？
I paint the trees outside of the studio, I paint the ceiling, and I paint lights and lines. Some of the paintings are left there ever since finished, and I will add some other stuff on there after a year or two. I think the sense of sequence is contained in spontaneity; they are connected somehow. 我画我的画室窗外的树，画天花板，还有一些光影和线条，有一些作品画完之后就放在那里，过了一年或者两年又在上面画一些别的东西，这其中有一些关联性，我认为随意里面包含着顺序
Is there any particular theme that utterly triggers you to engage your art with? 有没有哪个主题让你特别想要加入到你的作品中，或者说触发你围绕这个主题创作作品？
My creation is fluid. If I am a candle, my theme is like the wax that flows down after I am lit. 我的创作是流动的，假如我是一个蜡烛，我的主题就像是我被点燃之后流淌下来的蜡。
Can you name a few artists that inspire you? 你可以举例几个对你有影响启发的艺术家吗？
Cezanne. 塞尚
Do you ever wonder if additional work was needed, when an artwork’s making process is finished? 你有没有过这样的经历：当作品已经完成后，还觉得作品需要改进或者更改？
Yes. 有
What about the place where you work? What’s your studio space look like? 那么你的工作室呢？你的工作室是怎么样的？
My studio locates on the outskirts of Shanghai, an ancient town with a developed water system. My studio is renovated by an old factory building with four skylights and a beautiful wall. 我的工作室在上海的郊区，这是一个水系发达的古镇，我的工作室是一个旧厂房改造的，有四个天窗，有一面漂亮的墙。
What does your mother think about your work? 你妈妈怎么看待你的作品？
She doesn’t see much of my current works, but she knows I have a talent for painting, and she’s proud of me. 目前她看得不多，但是她知道我有绘画天赋，她为我而骄傲。
Which exhibition did you visit last? 你上一次看的展览是谁的？
I went to a couple of exhibitions last week, but right now, there are fewer and fewer painting exhibits. There isn’t much to talk about. 上周看了好几个展览，现在绘画的展览少了，不值一提。
Additional Images
All images courtesy of the artist