ArtCN gallery was pleased to host last Saturday a talk moderated by Raffaella Gallo, connecting from her home country Italy, and artist Dai Mouyu from his studio based in Shanghai. During this session, Dai Mouyu shed light on the development of his artistic practice and especially on the deep influence his past work as a photographer had and still has on his paintings today. We look forward to seeing you all in person in the gallery, hopefully soon, for Dai Mouyu’s solo exhibition.  

Audience: Are there any artists or artistic genres that have influenced you in your artistic journey?

Dai Mouyu: I like to look at different artists as case studies, including Leonardo Da Vinci, Edvard Munch, Dali and others, and also some artists with unique emotional expressions and styles. Among them, Edward Munch has had a great impact on me. In his time, the Spanish flu was the deathly epidemic, and he expressed his personal experience of life and death through his works. As a photographer, I used to be close to society, always reporting events, accidents and illnesses at all levels. Those experiences resonated with me.  Similarly, his work has naturally influenced me.

Audience: Lines appear to be predominant in your work, what do they mean to you?

Dai Mouyu: I have always loved lines. When I was little, I loved drawing lines on the ground with a stick, thus my parents discovered my interest in painting, and signed me up for extra-curriculum art classes. Afterwards, I got accepted at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. By that time, I was bombarded with a large variety of artistic styles, but the key point was not who had influenced me, but rather making a clear personal choice after accumulating enough life experience and having established a close relationship with society. This is also the reason why I have been doing photography: the work experiences as a photographer give me the ability to make choices and allow me to return to my first focus. The line is the starting point for me, which is always the original intention and what I always go after. 

Audience: Do you consider yourself a rational artist or rather an emotional one? How do you balance sensibility and rationality while you are creating a work?

Dai Mouyu: Some artists may be too emotional or too rational, but I seem to be neither. I use reason to overcoat sensibility. Sometimes they fight with each other, sometimes embrace each other and move forward together. The whole situation is like walking with two feet, moving forward one after another. When I’m doing photography, my style is intense, but when I am painting, I prefer a soft and inclusive style, which is my personal choice. In paintings, I want to convey a more positive state, which is more inclusive and peaceful, being able to bring positive energy to the audience. 

Audience: How does your past experience as a photographer influence the way you create and perceive your brushwork? 

Dai Mouyu: Line plays a very important role in photography, it helps the images to tell stories, especially when shooting people or scenes. Lines and their proportions bring mood and emotions. Different proportions show different moods. Fortunately, doing photography keeps up my appreciation of the world. I will take photos I want and choose the right scenes for my paintings. But at the same time, I do not copy these scenes straight into the paintings, instead I quickly capture the mood I wish to preserve from the scene, and convert it into what I would like to express in the composition of the picture back at the studio. That is one of the beneficial outcomes from doing photography.