陈 宁 静

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Most of my creative inspiration comes from my observation of the society, reflection on the relationship between people and society, and self-analysis and self-examination in the process of observation and thinking. Living in this era of “fast food”, everything becomes more convenient due to the Internet and high-tech. It seems that people have more options. However, most of the time, only fragments of information are available to us (a large part of the information is from unreliable sources and we cannot tell whether it is true or not), and our point of view is often shaped and our judgment is misled by this fragmented information easily. I always try to be a bystander to observe and record people’s behaviour and the relationship among people, society, and nature. At the same time, I know it is hard to be an impersonal bystander. I also try to experience and feel others’ emotions, and consider them as my creative source.

 

During my recent art practice, many of my works were more or less inspired by the outbreak of COVID-19. During this special period, as an Asian living in Europe and as a common person living in the outbreak of the epidemic, my observation and feelings towards the society and people were more intense. However, the epidemic is just a switch that triggers my inspiration, which does not mean that my work is limited to the word “epidemic”. I think the epidemic is like a magnifying glass, amplifying many existing interpersonal relationships and problems in society. For example, a hundred years ago, there existed “N-word” and “Sick Man of East Asia”, while today, the yellow race with a Mongoloid origin is still being attacked personally and called as “virus”. What I want to do is not only to represent a simple point but to reveal a general phenomenon through this point.

 

As a result, I hope my art practice could be a bridge that could help the audience to see and think about the relationship among people, society, and nature through my artwork. I think art is engine that we create to help us move forward, and it never hold us back. That’s why it is important.