HA HA HA
IS THIS A JOKE?
XUKE(EMILIA) LIN
My creative journey has always been influenced by existentialism and existentialist philosophy, combined with my own current situation or environment. At the same time I like to combine traditional Chinese culture with contemporary art. In my opinion, the fusion of cultures is not simply a matter of copying elements or totems, but of understanding the inner meaning of the culture and then expressing it in one's own form. For this work I am simply exploring the value and self-perception of the self and make something interesting.
“The Beauty and Death of Reflection”
Materials: Wood, twine, dried flowers, canvas, quartz sand, acrylic paints, paint paints, organza, mirrors, mirror fabrics
​
Size: Multiple sizes,BASE:73CM X 55CM
Date
Finished: 23/05/2022
End show: 14/06/2022
About this work, which belongs to the last of the series and which I intend to place in my graduation exhibition.
In terms of literature and thought, in addition to philosophy and Chinese Taoist culture, I have always been influenced by the Japanese BURAIHA school. For a long time, I was obsessed with the sense of rebellion against authority with this absurd and decadent expression. At the same time, I also enjoy using light-hearted or cheerful language or atmosphere to satirise the darkness or the injustice of everything, and to fight against the absurdity of my view of the world.
Therefore, in combination with all this, in this work I use dried flowers to express death, and bright colours to express humour and irony; the circle made of light fabric cannot hide the sunlight that spills through it onto the lake (mirrored fabric), the broken mirror does not reflect the beauty of light and colour, but a myriad of worlds are in it.
Thus, what exactly is this reflected beauty and death? Or what could it be?
It is the thought I leave the viewer with.
Work
Detail
 |  |
|---|---|
 |
Other Work
Project ​statement The original inspiration for this project came from my dissertation, which is a topic I have always been interested in. My creative journey has always been influenced by existentialism and existentialist philosophy, combined with my own current situation or environment. As this project was a long-term process, there was a clear change of perspective in my context in the mid to late phases. In my opinion, the fusion of cultures is not simply a matter of copying elements or totems, but of understanding the inner meaning of the culture and then expressing it in one's own form. Therefore, for me, to what extent is it effective to combine art from different cultures and different times? Or is it meaningful to reflect on that? Not to use elements blindly, not to interpret knowledge literally, but to research, to understand the inner meaning of the material I want to use and to present it in a creative way is something that I think artists need to critique and think about. At the end of the day, both existentialist philosophers and artists have explored this topic in a variety of ways, and in this project, I am simply exploring the value and self-perception of the self. From the early holistic reflections to the more personal reflections at the end, it is a process of persistent exploration of this theme for me.