Interview: ¥ouada

¥ouada (b. 1987, Fujian, China) primarily works with paintings and installations. In Ota Fine Arts Shanghai's exhibition "When many pass one way…", ¥ouada presents four paintings and a sculpture made in collaboration with Martin Goya Business. Through the exhibition, we join ¥ouada in a conversation about his creative process and experiences.

O："Zhuantang" often appears in your works and self-introduction. Can you briefly talk about Zhuantang town and how the area of Zhuantang has influenced your creative process?

Y：The former Zhuantang and the present Zhuantang are two different places. When I first arrived here, it was a chaotic town with cheap rental housing, red-light districts, restaurants that gave people diarrhea, petty theft, broken fingers found in the toilets of supermarkets, peddlers of illegal drugs, and many "urban street myths". It was like a late-night criminal town that usually appeared in movies. Some of the characters that I draw are derived from a combination of my childhood memories, movie scenes, trendy brands and Zhuantang gangsters.

O：The LV logo often appears in your works and is also shown in one of the paintings "This car can be sold for two million" in this exhibition, would you like to share your thoughts about "brand names" and the consumerist ideas that they may represent?

Y：I do not know much about consumerism, but I do like to consume (spend money).

O：Do you collect artworks or exchange works with other artists? If so, which one is your favorite, and why?

Y：Yes, but if the prices of some works are too high, I am not able to afford them. I like all the works in my collection.

O：Have you been inspired to create a new artwork in the process of tattooing? Can you also talk about the tattoos on your body?

Y：Tattooing is one of my hobbies. This includes tattooing others, being tattooed by others, and tattooing myself. I have a lot of tattoos on my body that were drawn spontaneously by others. The most common tattoo patterns on my body are the pineapple, a magical symbol that represents "luck has come" in southern Fujian.

O：Did you spend a lot of time on animation and games when you were younger? Did you reproduce a lot of anime characters? What are your impressions of your childhood?

Y：So far, I still spend a lot of time on games and animation. When I was a child, I reproduce and recreated many of my favorite anime characters. My childhood was spent in a chaotic town similar to the early Zhuantang, with many gangsters, 'temple gangs', and the beautiful sun. These are my fond memories.

O：Can you describe a typical day at your studio?

Y：My studio hardly has any mobile reception so I'm able to be incredibly productive in my studio.

O：What did you think about most, during the home quarantine period of COVID-19?

Y：The human race should have more respect for nature and cherish all good things.

About the Artist