A WAY OF LIVING
Manga and Basketball
For as long as I can remember, manga (Japanese comics) and basketball have been companies me throughout my childhood and youth. I taught myself basketball and drawing manga from a Japanese manga book named Slam Dunk. It was always purely cheerful with my best friends when we played basketball while discussing what new skills we had learned from Slam Dunk. After school, we rushed toward the book store and fell into the black and white world. We burst out laughing and always annoyed others.
Have you ever thought of marrying a basketball? I did. A Little Story of Me and Basketball (2005) was created as liberation and an expression of my love of manga and playing basketball. The first image depicted my first encounter with a basketball during elementary school. Images 2 - 5 narrate the ups and downs of training and competitions in middle school. I slept with the ball, hoping I could become a better player. After entering high school (image 6), I had to put away my love of playing basketball and reading manga to save time for art studio training and college entrance tests. The 7th image expresses my reunion with basketball after entering college. I joined the college women's basketball team and read Slam Dunk every time before a big game.
A Little Story of Me and Basketball
marker
2005
Becoming an artist is a choice and a way of living.
High School Training
My father is an artist. Under his influence and my love for manga, I decided to get into one of the top art institutes in China. The only concentration during high school was studio practice. To pass the college entrance test, I was trained in conventional objects and figure drawings and paintings. My father is my art mentor. To become good at it, my father required me to complete ten quick sketches every day in school. All my classmates were my free model at least once. I also had to complete two paintings every weekend.
two years of high school practice, under the training by my father, Xianhe Deng
Every day was repetitive during the last two years of high school. I lived like a drawing and painting machine. The tedious practice suffocated me. When most of my classmates hated going to school, I longed for the school days so that I could play basketball and fall into the black and white manga world. Finally, hard work paid off, and I got admitted to one of the top art institutes in China, the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA).
College Artwork at GAFA
I chose Decorative Art and Design as my B.F.A. major, and during my four years of college, I fell in love with artmaking. Unlike the high school experience where I felt haunted by art, Decorative Art and Design was a great major that allowed me to feast the desire of learning all different art materials, crafting techniques beyond conventional drawings and painting.
Erosion
drawing with ink and tea leaves
2006
Erosion (2006) was created from a selective course at GAFA. I was mad at the instructor for her bias because she devalued my work based on the assumption that "students from the design department can't draw like those from the fine art department." Students who enrolled in the Fine Art Department at GAFA scored the highest on realistic drawings and paintings during the college entrance tests. I was really mad at the instructor and regretted taking her course. So, I poured tea and tea leaves on my drawings. After I calmed down, I noticed the tea color and tea leaves created interesting textures on the paper surface. I then layered a piece of thin paper, poured ink, put some chalk powders on it, and let it sit and absorb. After it dried, the result impressed the instructor, and she collected this drawing and exhibited it at the Fine Art Department. That's what made me believe in the statement I heard from a Taoist: "Like the yin follows by the yang (Yin-Yang theory), destruction will turn into a new form of creation."
A Class Trip
marker drawing
2006
The first year of college learning explored ideas, feelings, experiences, and materials in creative practice. The second-year curriculum focused on formative technique and various decorative art styles, ranging from western to eastern. My interests expanded beyond western and eastern art, and I focused more on Mayan culture (see A Class Trip). The third-year college emphasized practical training in decorative art and design, such as fiber, metal, rock painting, lacquer, ceramics, clay, interior design, and public decorative art. I also selected several courses in graphic design, woodcuts, Chinese painting in the Song dynasty, psychology, and pedagogy.
Song of in the Ocean
traditional rock painting
2007
Dancing in the Ocean
metal art
2007
Odd Bird
fiber art
2007
Twelve Chinese Zodiac
Canton enamel
2007
In my last year of college, I chose lacquer painting as my specialty. This traditional painting originated from ancient China and was introduced to Japan and Vietnam, then reintroduced back to China. My work, Immemorial Fire (2007), directly influenced my final artwork at GAFA. This 4-year exploration has strongly built up my curiosity in knowing different cultures such as religions, customs, and languages. I summarized my college experiences in Happy Memories (2009). Sadly, my manga drawings slowly retreated from the stage during college because I was busy surfing in other art disciplines.
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specializing in traditional lacquer painting during fourth year college
Immemorial Fire
traditional lacquer painting
2007
Happy Memories
traditional lacquer painting on wood board with metal and sand
2009
The process of developing Happy Memories
Artwork from M.A. & Ph.D. in Art Education
To make use of all my artmaking knowledge and skills, I decided to enroll in a master’s art education program at Adelphi University in the United States. However, I did not create as much as artworks due to the expensive materials and inconvenient access to lacquer paints in the United States. But at least I learned clay, etching, and revisited oil painting.
I stuck my head into learning U.S. art education pedagogy theories that I had no prior knowledge of. I learned to merge my own culture within my teaching strategies into American classrooms (click here for my student teaching). My artistic symbol and identity became blurry after graduated with a MA degree in art education.
Woman and Shoe
clay
2011
Lizard Love
clay
2011
Climbing at Night
Oil painting
2012
During my doctoral study, my artistic self and my artistic agency dive into research. I miss the artmaking energy during my college. I am waiting for more artwork to emerge, enchanted by the miracle of my imagination that all my works will mature as a butterfly incubates from the cocoons, flying into immortalization.
Chasing Luxury to the Grave
panel drawing, Ink on paper
2016
Trapped
pencil & watercolor
2020
Feeling what You Feel
pencil on paper
2020
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Stuckeman International Students
digital drawing
2021