About

Yijia Yang

Studio Arts & Business BS Majors - University of Rochester 19'

Arts Administration - Teachers College, Columbia University 21’

As an artist and observer, I am always inspired by happenings in daily life, my personal experience and my relationships with people. The mesmerizing beauty in the intricacy of life experience and interpersonal relationships appeals to me. Even the inconspicuous moments could have provocative meanings for me to explore, think and learn. 

Regarding concept as the soul of my art, I ponder how my selection of art elements such as material, structure and space serve to visualize my concept of work aesthetically. I value the abstraction because I want to break the limits of lucidity and subjects with specific lines and forms. Without clear figures and shapes, the work is open to interpretation and each distinct interpretation becomes a part of my work. I value the intimacy of perplexing feelings that are hardly expressed by people, and I work on bringing these feelings outward in my works. 

My recent painting series explore the anxiety, fear, uncertainty and other complicated feeling that people as social members may encounter in their social life. Painting with brushes drags me into an unbridled state in which common sense becomes mediocrity, platitude transforms into polarity and oddness turns into routine. I applied the concept of abstractness into the series by using thick brushstrokes and motley layers, so that people could either see themselves within the paintings or stand aside as observers.