We recently connected with Yang Wei Han and have shared our conversation below.
Yang, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
I think the best way to be creative is to keep making and never say no to a possibility. There will be tons of unexpected problems during art making, and some of them may be the start of a new work.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
In my practice, I use photography to recreate seemingly ordinary moments of daily life, of which the complex meanings are often revealed later in remembrance. Consisting of a wide range of subject matters and photographic formats, my work continuously explores the intricate relationships between the everyday, the passage of time, and the elusive memory imagery.
I always want to make photographs of things that cannot be captured in the moment they happen. I love incidents that seem ordinary but imply something more complicated, and usually you can never predict when those incidents will happen. For example, last year I made a picture called Untitled (Basketball Shooting). It originated from a simple, daily experience: One day I was walking on the street and suddenly did a shooting without a real ball. I realized I did that action so many times on the real basketball court that it even influenced my life outside the court and became a purposeless, habitual behavior. I also remember a funny gif online: A host is delivering a speech at a couple’s wedding. The couple stands beside him, listening. The groom—embarrassed and not sure where to put his hands—does the shooting out of the blue on the stage under everyone’s attention, which of course makes the bride more embarrassed. I want to make a picture of that action, but it is impossible to wait and take a candid shot. I have to recreate it.
Therefore, I rely a lot on my memory to create. I’m very interested in the memory image because it’s always the first thing that pops out when I recall something. Also, you’ll never know in advance what you’ll remember. You thought you would remember a thing but it turns out you forgot, and you will never ever realize it’s forgotten. Sometimes an old memory image is suddenly recalled and I feel urgent to turn that into a physical image…My recent interest is engaging with darkroom alternative processes, exploring a unique language that represents the mysterious process of recalling memory images (compared to directly depicting what they are in my previous practice with the frequent usage of staged photography).
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say the ability to imagine, the execution, and the ability to communicate. The first two are foundations of an artist career. Feel free to try even though you might be one of the few people on this road. Don’t give up easily when faced with failures, but try to be patient and conquer them. After a long journey, you’ll find yourself achieving a lot that you won’t even imagine in the beginning.
I feel communication is becoming more and more important in today’s art world. Since people usually don’t have much time to spend on a single work, it’s necessary to let them know what is unique about you and your work in a short time, leaving them with a good impression. Being able to elaborate one’s practice needs a lot of practice, and there’s much I need to improve actually.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I usually do sports like soccer and basketball. When I am in a game, I can fully concentrate, leaving all things that bother me behind. Sometimes I will just give myself a break by going for a trip. I feel like to pursue an artist career, you can work hard but don’t push yourself too hard…Sometimes things just don’t go as how you expect and that’s fine. Just keep making. Do what you are supposed to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.yangweihan.com
- Instagram: @yang__weihan
