Hello Faye Wei Wei
What are you reading currently?
I am reading some Walt Whitman poems. I love how he describes love as: “the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun, You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left)” As if we could claim our own or stretch our arms out into the morning a little further and drift away from ourselves for a moment. And maybe claim some morning dew into our flower mouths for a first sip of morning, just for a moment maybe, and then we wake.”
I am also reading Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and I love this part, I am not yet very far into it, but, “Underneath the tree ferns, tall as forest tree ferns, the light was green. Orchids flourished out of reach or for some reason not to be touched”. Not to be touched, the forbidden flowers - we love flowers, everyone feels such beauty from them. They are the purest symbol of beauty, of language, of hidden meanings. When I paint them, I suppose I am so aware of their effect on me, they are personified and fragrant. “I breathe the fragrance myself and know it and like it, The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.”
Like trying to reach into a tornado
Like trying to reach into a tornado
The titles of your artwork are entrancing. You said to AnOther Magazine that you create them from things like ‘a lyric fragment from a song or an overheard line in a movie,’ describing them as ‘the entanglements of words that I use in combination with poetry’. I love that. Are the titles stimuli or do they come afterwards?
Thank you, they often come afterwards. I keep in mind words I like and I always have a draft of titles and poems that I love that I have made up. They are everywhere and very unorganised, like trying to reach into a tornado for some coherent words to fly out at you.
Once you put artwork in the public domain, it often metamorphoses - it’s so subjective. Do you relish that, or does it scare you a little, when you have a strong idea of what you want to show people?
It actually doesn't scare me, I guess because maybe I don't care that much what people think. I like it if you like it - but if you don't then really, I would rather not know, because then maybe I'm not making it for you. I am also quite proud of what I make and if I put it out there then I probably really love it. And it is always such a relief to finish a show, so I am always just so ready to have the nice warm lulling lullaby time of after an exhibition, of resting and feeling pleased with what have made and put out into the world.
How does it feel to be an artist, especially in this time?
I’m not sure how it feels, probably feels exactly how everyone else feels. It’s a bit sad and depressing that life is like this, and it’s full of worry and anxiety about all this time that feels like it is wasted and falling away and being worried about what to do and how to make a living. I think being an artist is very lucky, but like everyone I have had major shows cancelled and things disappoint me and upset me and make me feel worthless and a bit confused. But you have to really look after yourself right now, find joy where you can, support your friends and feel loved.
Your lucid, evocative paintings and drawings are mesmerising. And they have recurring symbols – particularly figures. Have you found it difficult to paint figures during a time with very little human connection?
Yes, so much. I just really want to paint flowers and paint people I miss and love. Luckily, I have a huge archive of images to work from. I also work a lot from my imagination, although, they are always rooted in some sort of reality, even if I don't know quite which one that day.
Do you paint in your head? (I write in my head)
I think so, when your eyes become soft and unfocused in your mind and you fall asleep inside the pillows that are your eyeballs and you can see your next move on the canvas…that rush is very transporting, like brief portals into some unknown painting world which will surrender its secrets to you only for a moment, before it tricks you and you have rubbish ideas again
What was the first piece of artwork that you saw that really made you feel something?
I don't remember the first one, but Michelangelo's Pieta which I saw was so moving to me. I saw it when I was quite young and was so moved by the humanness of the failure of a sculpture because of the marble and the material. And it was the first work of art that really moved me and had a profound effect on me.
And what was the last?
I have literally seen no artwork this year, sadly. However, my best friend May Sutton made me a beautiful quilt for my birthday. She drove to my flat in Monument and we sat outside under the strange mix of moon light and lamp light that the city of London always has, the pull of the Thames you can feel it. I also live next to a church so it’s a very weird atmosphere but I love it. Anyway, May drove to my house and gave me this quilt she has been making for months. It is in different shades of milky white and pale moon slithers and ovals that are like rice wine and it says Faye on it. It is the most beautiful work of art I own. I was so moved by it because I knew it was her way of saying that she loved me. I know it and I love her too. It's amazing the energy that comes from objects that are made from love. Maybe that's why I love art that is emotional so much, and why I love my paintings too - because they have a feeling of such love.
You gave me hyacinths first a year ago
You gave me hyacinths first a year ago
And you love poetry – what line of a poem do you return to again and again?
“You gave me hyacinths first a year ago; ‘They called me the hyacinth girl.’
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed,”
The Waste Land by T.S Elliot
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? If you don't ask you don't get...
What makes you feel nostalgic? Hong Kong, the smell of the streets and the sounds of the green man crossing roads. It makes me feel so young and little again.
In terms of fashion, what inspires your style? It’s magnificent. Oh, I have very well-dressed friends and I love to see what they wear. I am also so particular in the dresses and sort of flowery flirty kind of fantasy that I enjoy in clothes. I love the ritual of dressing and I actually love make-up a lot, which no one really asks me about.
To end, and it’s been an absolute joy to talk to you, some questions on your favourite things:
Favourite snack? Sea weed or Cavalo Nero with my special spice and seed blend that is so, so healthy for you.
Favourite scent and what memory does it evoke for you? Byredo Bal D'Afrique reminds me of being younger and more wide-planet-eyed, but I love it. It's a soft scent that never makes me dizzy like some perfumes always do.
Favourite childhood memory? So many, maybe just playing in the playground, building fairy palaces, selling flowers and twigs and leaves to my friends for pebbles in our own little shop we made up.
Favourite childhood book? The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Favourite place? Soho in London; China Town in New York; Nichome or Koenji in Tokyo; Mong Kok in Hong Kong; Patmos in Greece; any sweet little restaurant in Paris; the seaside in Porto with the seafood restaurant that is my favourite in the world; Clapham Common...
And a huge thank you to the immensely kind, cool and talented interstellar of an artist, Faye Wei Wei.