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Smoking With Justin Chen by Ashley Inguanta This is part of a series of interviews with the artists who illustrate the wonderful stories we publish. As an artist, what shapes you? Who shapes you? I am constantly inspired by my surroundings, which is why I love searching for interesting spots and events every time I'm in a different city: exhibitions, performances, cafes, even ramen shops (favorite food). The constant exposure to new experience keeps my senses stimulated, which eventually filters to my works. You state on your Web site, "My first real piece of achievement was a red car in crayon." Tell me about this drawing. How did your passion for visual art evolve from childhood? It was a rather unremarkable drawing—I don't even think I still have it. But as a kid, collecting toy cars was my favorite activity, and when the commercially produced ones couldn't satisfy me anymore, I started creating versions of my own. I was fortune to come from an open-minded family. In most Asian households at that time, kids were pushed toward more academically-minded activities or more "presentable" skills, like piano or karate. I really had fun as a kid artistically, pretending to be Picasso or Chagall, two of my most-admired artists at the time. You received a Bachelor's degree in architecture, and now you are pursuing a Master's in graphic design. What was the biggest challenge you faced when changing fields? Fortunately, the creative process is quite similar between the two fields; both produce products built upon solid concept and refined execution. The challenge mostly comes from the change of perspective; education in architecture primarily focuses on big gestures, while in graphic design it is all about details. It took me a couple of months to grasp the idea and importance of creating a good-looking rag—the seemingly natural line breaks on the right of a paragraph when text is aligned to the left. Let's go back to your Web site. You state, "Appreciating the tangibility of a printed piece, it gives me great pleasure to witness [how] my work exists within the close and personal, everyday realm of our society." Explain this need to communicate and connect through art. How does graphic design allow you to connect with society in a way architecture did not? As a person who speaks two languages, I understand the power and beauty of language, but also the frustration of being unable to comprehend it. Good graphic design is like painting, it provokes a universal emotion. I hope one day I will possesses the skill to communicate ideas with my audience, through text as well as its visual composition. Architecture can have a powerful impact on an individual, but often this expression must exist within the requisite function of its intended use. To me, this hinders its ability to truly express. How about connecting to the stories you illustrate for SmokeLong? Tell me what this illustration process is like. I usually begin by reading the story thoroughly from start to finish, then just let the plot unwind in my mind for a while. I usually don't revisit the writing until the final sketch is done, which happens about a week after the first reading. I like my drawings to be a little distant from the written words; I don't want my interpretation interfering with the reader's perception of the narrative. Talk to me about your photo project, "To Forgive." What inspired it? It started as a response to the concept of irony. As a collaborative project, the team decided the best way to perceive irony would be through the absence of it. We collected responses to the question "What would you like to forgive?" from people around various parts of the city. Unexpectedly, it was an emotional experience, seeing how strangers responded to the question with such frank and emotionally revealing answers. What would you like to forgive? ... Ha! You sure don't realize the intensity of a question until it is reflected back... When I was a third-grader in Taiwan, I was assigned to many art competitions by my art teacher. Unfortunately, all of them differed from my interest. Why send a kid who likes to draw to compete in wire sculpture or calligraphy? My most rebellious action was skipping a practice session, resulting in the art teacher scolding me for the lack of respect and discipline. I can still remember my helplessness, sitting among kids from other schools who were obviously more skilled and passionate, working away at their masterpieces during the 4-hour limit, while I simply jumbled up a ball of wire, and left the scene 30 minutes in. I would like to forgive my art teacher. Tell me about the artists you admire. If you could choose any artist, what would your ultimate collaboration look like? I have always been fascinated by Edward Gorey's work. His visual world is morbid yet oddly pleasant; it is this balance of attraction and repulsion I am constantly attempting throughout my own work. The Japanese architecture team SANAA is someone I've been closely following since my studies in architecture. Creating a friendly and functional space with such a restrained and simple spatial language is no easy task, yet their white, clean forms have the perfect human scale—it would be a dream to create a large-scale graphical element within one of their spaces. What are you working on now? Currently I'm working on a couple personal projects: developing a short story that will hopefully be the core of an illustrated narrative and continuing writing in Chinese, something I've started a couple years back. Lastly, I am working on developing a concept for my upcoming degree thesis. Is there anything else you'd like to say? I would like to thank Ben Loory for introducing me to SmokeLong, (I illustrated his story, "Gorillas") and I've been having so much fun ever since. I hope there will be more assignments in the near future! |
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