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Ruohan YU


b. 1998, China. Lives and study in London

Education
2016–2020 B.A. in Fine Art painting, Tianjin Academy of Fine Art(Tianjin), China

2021-2022. MA in Fine Art painting, Camberwell College of Art, London
 

Exhibitions

2022—John Moores Painting Prize (China), Shanghai

2022—Lie Down, 22 Scwan Road, London

2022—Factory/Church, Copeland Gallery,London

2022—Camberwell College of Art Degree Show,

            Grass Ceiling and Brick Wall,Wilston Rd,London
2022 – Art Ascend Summer Exhibition, Spiral Gallery, Shoreditch, London.

2022 – It's All Fun Until, Safe House Gallery, London

2021 – Step by Step Project, Sino-Italian Development Creative Park, Tianjin, China
2021 – Touching Fish and Patches, Tianjin Art Academy Gallery, Tianjin, China
2021 – Here is the paradise, Red Plum Cultural and Creative Park - Fermentation Art Centre, Shenyang, China

I continuously seek episodic events that give me a sense of detachment. These events include subtle disruptions, reorganisations and reconstructions of the order of every day, presenting an absurdity and heterogeneity that deviates from reality. The process of seeking those events becomes my daily intra-cognitive practice which is my motivation to create.

My work uses a wide variety of materials to delve into the narrative behind the objects and to visualise the rebellion against how people perceive everyday objects. Through my paintings, I serve as a translator between the daily object and the viewer. In my interpretation, I attempt to convey a sense of instability that the events behind everyday objects can occur at any time. By observing things using multiple senses, joining elements that do not appear to belong together and separating elements that are conventionally regarded as belonging together. I exaggerate the feeling of defamiliarisation and uncanny in our daily life. 

By experimenting with various materials, altering compositions of images, and combining canvas with objects, I continue to emphasise the physicality and subjectivity of painting. I see painting as a visual representation of the tension between my interlocking relationship with the canvas; it does not exist in a vacuum. It becomes a relativised object that constantly shifts along with the actor's perspective. 

I attempt to create a ‘multi-sensory image’ in my works. Curating during the terms has drawn me towards the idea of creating a room from public space, which is abstract, fluid, and intimate. As a mediator in my work, the shared experience of people is explored through the changing arrangement of space. In addition, I see my multi-media work as a complex that is separate from each other and functions as a whole.

In my future practice and research, I will continue diving into these topics as entry points for my practice that lies between painting and other media. I plan to look into theories such as commodity fetishism, new materialism theory, and theatre theory and use the object's narrative as a thread to identify multiple ways of returning to the object.

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