Together with art collective RunShi (润识), GoEast is exhibiting Banana Wang (王香蕉)’s colorful bulldog paintings. Here we sit down with Banana to ask her about her work.
Jaap: Do you think art should have a higher meaning or purpose?
你认为你更高的艺术理想是什么？
Banana: Hmmm. I want to put myself in the history books. As for the message, my art doesn’t come with a fixed meaning. It’s open for the viewer to find. It’s not difficult, just happy, that’s all.
嗯。我想被写进艺术史。我觉得我的艺术作品没有一个固定的意义，它是开放的让观众来寻找的。我的作品也不难理解，你觉得快乐就够了。
J: How did you get to this style?
你如何确立的你的风格的？
B: My major in art academy was sculpture, and for one class we went to the Jaanxi province to do pottery. I brought a picture of my dog, and I really liked that photo. I didn’t continue with it through pottery, because I think it’s very limited. I like painting more, experimenting with colors and compositions.
我在大学时候的专业是雕塑，有一节课我们去了江西景德镇做陶艺。我带了一张我的狗的照片，因为我真的很喜欢那张照片。我没有继续做陶器，因为我认为雕塑有一些局限性。我更喜欢绘画，可以尝试很多色彩和构图的可能。
J: Is there something typically Chinese about your work?
你的作品中有什么典型的中国特色吗?
B: I’m local Shanghainese but I don’t go to lots of art exhibitions here. If I put elements of my Chinese life in my work then I need to paint something that looks like a photograph. So I don’t think there’s a lot of typical Chinese elements in my work. I try to do something different. I think I have more freedom than other young Chinese-artists. During art education everyone needed to paint like the teacher. I never wanted to do that. I’ve never gone abroad before, but I think the Chinese education, also art education, is about doing what the teacher says. Foreigners usually are more creative and do whatever they want.
我是上海人，但我不常去看艺术展。如果我把自己的中国生活元素放在我的作品里那我需要画那种和照片很像的画作。所以我不认为我的作品中有很多典型的中国元素，我一直尝试做一些不同的东西，而且我认为我比其他年轻的中国艺术家更自由。在中国的艺术教育中，每个人都需要像老师一样画画，但我从来没想过那样做。我也没有出过国，但我认为中国的艺术教育，就是按照老师说的去做。相比之下，外国人通常更有创造力，想做什么就做什么。
J: Is Chinese culture tolerant of artists? Not only academy but also the relationship between parents and family?
中国文化对艺术家宽容吗?这种宽容不仅仅存在于学院派的圈层，是否从家庭角度也是如此？
B: The condition is strict in China. To be an artist isn’t seen as a proper career. But I guess it’s similar in many countries. What can you do? Just work hard and focus on your goal.
中国的条件很苛刻。艺术家这个职业并不被看好。但我想很多国家都是这样的。你能做什么?只要努力工作，专注于你的目标就可以了。
J: Are there any artists who inspire you？
有没有给你灵感的艺术家？
B: I’m not really inspired by other artists. Maybe Van Gogh, that’s the one I like.
我好像并没有受到其他艺术家的启发。也许是梵高这种有名的艺术家吧。
J: Your small paintings have notes on the back. What is on the notes?
你的小作品背后都有一些文字，写的是什么呢？
B: It’s a mixture of instructions and a collection certificate, with some private notes for the buyer. I have a big goal. I want to paint 1000 variations, and then I invite all the collectors to come and do the exhibition— and have a party together.
这是一个给藏家的说明书。我有一个大目标。我想画1000张这个系列的作品，然后我会邀请所有的藏家来做展览，一起开派对。
J: Do you have a message to Chinese learners from GoEast that’ll come to see your work?
你想传达什么信息给goeast的学生让他们来看你的作品呢?
B: If you’re in a bad mood, come here and have a happy day!
如果你心情不好，那就来这里过快乐的一天吧!
