Background and Early Life
(1) Artphiloso Gallery: What was your childhood dream? And what prompted you to truly embark on the path of artistic creation?
Philo: As a child, I didn’t really understand the concept of a “dream.” When teachers asked about it, most of us simply chose from the mainstream options they gave—astronaut, doctor, teacher. That kind of “mainstream” framework limits imagination. Most choices and decisions in childhood are guided by instinct and environment. It wasn’t until I was about seventeen or eighteen that I truly began to understand what “art” meant, and that I could consciously decide my own path.
(2) Artphiloso Gallery: Could you tell us about your formal art education? What were the greatest challenges and rewards during that time?
Philo: I began formal art education when I was sixteen. At that time, I was obsessively in love with painting. Looking back, I realize that kind of tireless passion was an innate instinct. Under such strong compulsion, nothing felt like a real challenge—every difficulty in painting was a kind of happiness. Later, at university, I began to move beyond pure technique and entered a broader understanding of art itself. The greatest challenge was learning to truly recognize art, and the greatest reward was that through this recognition, my sensitivity deepened, allowing me to feel a richer world and human emotion.
(3) Artphiloso Gallery: How much has formal art training influenced your current creative practice? If you hadn’t received it, how do you think your path might differ?
Philo: Years of technical training gave me a solid foundation in painting, which was my greatest gain—but also the heaviest shackle in my journey of transformation. The “what if” is hard to imagine; every stage, every choice, every version of oneself is the result of countless interwoven factors.
(4) Artphiloso Gallery: During your student years or as a young artist, what traits or habits made you stand out from your peers?
Philo: Emotional sensitivity and perceptiveness. These qualities are both my greatest gift and my biggest flaw in social life—but in art, they are essential. Art is the crystallization of human emotion. Only by deeply immersing oneself in emotional experience can one truly grasp the essence of life and art.
(5) Artphiloso Gallery: What does being an “artist” mean to you? What do you see as the greatest joy and the greatest difficulty in creating art?
Philo: Are we talking about the title or the state of being? If it’s just a title, it means nothing to me. But if it refers to the state of being an artist, then it is the source of my happiness. The greatest joy lies in realizing your vision of beauty during the creative process—in creating happiness. Love requires an object and mutual exchange to reach fulfillment, but art allows me to reach the same state of happiness entirely on my own. The hardest part is balancing real life with the deep immersion of artistic creation.
(6) Artphiloso Gallery: What usually triggers your inspiration—life experiences, history, culture, science, social issues, or chance observations?
Philo: Life experience and emotional interaction between people. I’m highly sensitive to emotional experiences but almost dull in everything else.
(7) Artphiloso Gallery: When you start a new piece, what kind of preparation do you usually do—sketches, photos, structures, experiments, studies? What method do you prefer?
Philo: Emotional experience is my only preparation. My works aren’t complex—neither in structure nor concept. I’ve tried making many sketches and studies before painting, but by the time I finish the research, I’m already exhausted. I have no desire or energy to paint it again.
(8) Artphiloso Gallery: Experimentation, exploration, and transformation are often seen in your work. Could you talk about your stylistic and material evolution?
Philo: My work is almost exclusively presented in the form of easel painting. Within that limited form, I try to explore richer variations, because in my heart there’s a simple answer to the relationship between form and content: the simpler the method, the clearer the feeling. Once I understood that painting technique is merely a means to pursue the essence of “art,” the form itself became unimportant—the simpler, the better, until it feels as natural as walking, speaking, or breathing. Easel painting, to me, is as natural as breathing. But it has its limitations—too ancient, too slow to adapt to the complexities of modern life. The modern world is vast, chaotic, and fast-changing, and traditional painting can’t always carry all that modernity.
(9) Artphiloso Gallery: When and why did you shift from more figurative or traditional forms to abstraction? What did this transition mean for you?
Philo: The turning point came when I went to Yunnan to study fine art. The art there has a kind of wild beauty—more vitality, less emphasis on figurative technique. Naturally, my path evolved in that direction. For me, this meant opening a completely new way of sensing life, enriching my perception and emotional range, and expanding my inner capacity for inclusiveness and awareness.
(10) Artphiloso Gallery: Many of your works depict female figures. Why did you choose this singular subject?
Philo: Every artist tends to begin with what they’re most familiar with—what they’re drawn to. Depicting familiar things allows for more natural, detailed, and authentic works. In my life, my interactions with men were mostly fleeting—just a few shadows passing by. But women have appeared more vividly and frequently in my life, staying long enough for me to see them clearly. There’s no hierarchy in choosing artistic subjects; subject matter is simply a way of seeing the world. You can see an entire universe through a single flower—or through the figure of a woman. I don’t fixate on themes; I simply paint what appears most clearly and vividly in my perception at a given time.
(11) Artphiloso Gallery: What kind of experience or reflection do you hope viewers gain from your works?
Philo: If possible, I hope they simply stare. To get lost in it. To zone out. Or even just to pause for a little while longer. Everyone’s life path is different, and so are their responses to art. That’s beyond the artist’s control or concern.
(12) Artphiloso Gallery: Your works seem to emphasize the presence of line. How does your use of line serve your thematic expression?
Philo: It’s not intentional. Line is part of my cultural heritage—it’s the core aesthetic structure of Chinese art. I was born and raised in China. The deeper my understanding and identification with my culture grows, the more I see the beauty of lines in everything, and the more naturally and gracefully lines emerge in my work.
(13) Artphiloso Gallery: How do you determine when a work is “finished”?
Philo: That’s a wonderful question. The notion of “completion” is something every artist must wrestle with. It’s always in motion—sometimes a work feels done early, other times it demands more. I don’t have a fixed answer. I rely almost entirely on instinct, with reason stepping in only occasionally.
(14) Artphiloso Gallery: How do you approach material, scale, space, and the viewer’s distance?
Philo: If I’m creating for a specific theme or exhibition space, I’ll consider those factors. But in everyday creation, I simply adapt to my surroundings—the size of my studio determines the scale, and my materials depend on what I have at hand. There’s an old Chinese saying: “A worn brush can still write the chronicles of spring and autumn.” It means that even with the humblest tools, I can still paint the essence of life.
(15) Artphiloso Gallery: You’ve mentioned an interest in working within the international art scene. How do you think geographical, cultural, and linguistic changes would influence your work?
Philo: If I ever had that opportunity, I imagine it would feel much like moving from Zhejiang to Yunnan—a process of conflict and reconciliation that enriches my perspective and deepens my spirit. It would also allow me to take another step forward in the ongoing artistic dialogue of East-West integration, which has long been a crucial thread in modern Chinese art.
(16) Artphiloso Gallery: In our globalized, digital, and technological age, how do you see technology—like AI, digital art, and media technologies—affecting traditional art forms?
Philo: Traditional art, due to its limited malleability, won’t change much. It will continue to preserve its own lineage of creation and appreciation. But inevitably, part of it will intersect with new forms—AI art, digital media, and so on. These new formats will rapidly capture public attention and shape new aesthetic habits, but visual products untested by time often lead to aesthetic fatigue. After each cycle, traditional aesthetics reemerge. This pattern repeats—it’s simply part of human nature.
(17) Artphiloso Gallery: For artists today, what kind of “visibility” or “engagement” do you think is most essential in the art market?
Philo: The willingness to engage. Not necessarily to adapt or participate in the market’s transactional systems—artists are often too inward to fit comfortably within such structures. Forcing it might dull their natural artistic instinct. Yet ignoring the market entirely can make survival itself difficult. So, some degree of observation and interaction is necessary. After all, the art market is a reflection of human behavior—and that, too, is part of the artist’s experience.
(18) Artphiloso Gallery: What do you see as the greatest challenges facing artists today?
Philo: All of these are significant challenges. But artists are not gods—often, we’re not even as practical as ordinary people. Each artist has the right to choose which challenges to take on. Many are still struggling just to survive and can’t afford to engage larger social issues. At our current stage of civilization, art remains a kind of luxury that follows economic prosperity. Only when civilization evolves to a stage where art is life itself will art fully reveal its power to engage with social issues. As for me—right now, my response is simply to answer your question.
(19) Artphiloso Gallery: What impression, emotion, or thought do you hope viewers carry away?
Philo: I do hope they carry something—an impression, a feeling, a thought, or a question—but what that is doesn’t matter. The dialogue between artist and viewer should be like falling in love: it requires respect, time, and genuine understanding.
(20) Artphiloso Gallery: What new medium or form of expression would you most like to explore next?
Philo: Music and literature. I haven’t composed music for quite some time, but I still write poetry occasionally. If possible, I’d love to devote a period of time to these two forms instead of visual art.
(21) Artphiloso Gallery: If we were to collaborate on a future exhibition, what would your ideal exhibition format or space look like?
Philo: I would love to integrate static visuals, interactive performance, and large-scale immersive installations. I want viewers to be fully enveloped in a carefully constructed illusion—that, to me, would be the most powerful exhibition experience.
(22) Artphiloso Gallery: Where do you see your artistic development heading in the next five to ten years?
Philo: I hope to establish a sustainable income model that allows me more freedom to immerse myself in creation. For me, an artwork is “successful” when it meets my own standard of excellence and is loved by those I care about.
(23) Artphiloso Gallery: How do you perceive the relationship between art and contemporary social issues?
Philo: These are vast and complex byproducts of modern society’s evolution. Art cannot solve them—but it can re-present them in ways that move the human heart. I don’t intentionally seek specific ways to address these issues. Living within them and being aware of them is already my most genuine response.
(24) Artphiloso Gallery: Is there anything you’d like to say to our gallery, to the audience, or to potential collectors?
Philo: If you happen to come across this interview, and if my work happens to speak to you—thank you. I’m truly honored. I would cherish any of your thoughts about my work, your questions about life, or your hopes for the future. Thank you sincerely.
2025