Feng: Your works have confused me. I’d like to know about your focus in those series of experimental creations. What kind of pursuit do you want to express by creating those pieces of art? What kind of problems do you want to solve? Or to be more exact, why do you choose this way of expression?

Jia: Basically, I just want to demonstrate the ultimate meaning of painting at this time and even in those days to come. As a matter of fact, I admit that the fine art works in 1990s once had great influences in my painting.

Feng: So you’re saying that you’re personally affected greatly by paintings in 1990s, right?

Jia: Exactly. Those days witnessed my time of learning. At that time, our eyes were caught by those very simple images, the Pop art. I noticed that many famous artists in China then such as several super stars and F4 shall find the works of these people when looking through the picture album.. Those artists like using impressive images which are way out of our visual experiences gained during learning the ex-Soviet scar or folk painting. The viewer might see through them a much more powerful, direct and disobedient image which might also bring them greater visual satisfaction.

Feng: And that’s just where their specialty and significance lie in.

Jia: From then on, I had tried their way of painting. When I was in college, I drew two lockers of works, learning and experimenting. Now in retrospect, those paintings did not serve my purpose of painting as a career. Instead, they created a concept by images. Or they might be called conceptual painting which did not reach my ultimate goal in creating art works.

Feng: So what do you believe are the true fundamentals of painting?

Jia: In fact, I didn’t do very well these years. In the transition from the so-called contemporary art to post-modern art till today, some has claimed that painting is already dead which has been marginalized in this world of mainstream art forms. Painting is no longer a branch of the so-called pan-art, especially in western countries. From the perspective of visual sense or generally speaking, painting couldn’t reach the core issues of contemporary art. Therefore, the status quo sometimes makes me downplay the significance of painting. It seems that my every day of practice or the identity as an artist itself is not so important in that painting is unable to get involved in the current art environment. Especially in a country like China that boasts lots of painters and paintings, the work that could reflect on the true essence of art is however very rare.
Feng: So what do you think is the genuine style of painting? Or to say, who’s works could touch on the essence as you term? Personally speaking, I don’t think either media or manner really matters. It’s about what you’re focusing on, or how you’re communicating your thoughts or judgment. If you think painting’s situation of marginalization is not the priority, then what is actually on the top of your mind? There should be a logic connection in this thinking.

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