EXTENDED RESEARCH

As an artist, I am passionate about a wide range of arts, not only fine arts. Interdisciplinary research plays a significant role in my art practice.

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As an international metropolis, London is a paradise for art. Since I settled in London, my life is more vibrant and colourful than it ever been. I explored art, music, opera and dance, wandering between museums, exhibitions, concerts, and theatre. I started to draw sketches when I attended a performance as a record of my life. These sketches are line-drawing and small scales for convenience and efficiency. Due to the performers moving constantly, I practiced my skills of using lines to capture body movement quickly. Sketchbook being my experiment as well, I played with lines and colours, attempting to express music and emotion. I learned to relax and be sensational when drawing. It also enlightened me that combined art, music, dance together in my art work to create multiexperience. Gradually, it reflected my art practice. Strokes take control of my artwork. Figures become vivid and dynamic.

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After watching ballet Swan Lake and Casanova, I considered dance as the best way to convey my desire for freedom and wildness in The Witch of Garsenda because of its free extension of limbs. To strengthen the feeling, I drew dancing sketches blindly when I watch dance performances, so that my figures are the pure production of sensation. There are no body features but posture itself. They are representatives of my freedom.

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Touched by Roger Robinson's poem, I wrote poems for the first time. His poem A Meditation On a Portrait of a Trinidadian Woman (The Artist's Servant) reflects the relationship between artwork and poem, history and imagination. By named the servant and recreated her a good life, he responded to the colonist's superiority. I think it is a very powerful way. Poems can convey emotions. Eternal Joy is my first poem, through imagined the witches' life express my crave of women's freedom. Besides, the imagery and details described in my poems helped me to create artwork.

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In Eternal Joy, I wrote 'voice is powerful'. Voices intriguing me. I am stunning by the children's choir's angelic voice. Before I watched an opera in London for the first time, I thought it is an old fashion and out of date. However, it turns out one of my favourites, I was deeply impressed by the voices of soprano and tenor. Their voices echoing in the whole place, the power of voice with human beings surprised me. It made me want to experiment with my voice. So I read my poems and recorded them. The effect is interesting, they sound like a spells. Poems and spells are common somehow, they both have an effect on the listener. Rebecca Tamas's Witch is a collection of poems that I found in the UAL library, it shows the bond between spell and poem as well. In her book, there are many poems entitled 'Spell for.', and her bold poems are Penis hex. In opera Witch in Royal Academy of Music, which is influenced by her, witches shouting a spell 'Hex the Penis.' is another interesting transformation from poems to spells and powerful voices.

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Voice also conveys strong emotions and a sense of intimateness. Kelly Lloyd interviewed an artist and made a series of podcasts called This Thing We Call Art. She played a clip of it in a lecture, in which a female artist talked about her struggles in life and art. She did not mention pain, but her tone is painful, as if she is in front of you. Therefore, I became interested in interviewing people. I searched for their book collections of witches and matriarchy, and interviewed the staff Jess. I asked her about witches, matriarchy and my artwork. I think it was a great experience as a start.

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In my drawings, poems and my passion for voice all reflect my desire to express strong emotions of freedom and be powerful. Therefore, I combined my artworks and audio poems with eternal joy and I feel you are a video to enhance the effect. I tried to build a vivid world of witches. By adjusting the speed and layer of my voice, I repeated 'Let us free in eternal joy' in the end many times, made it sound like a spell, convey intense crave of freedom. The Witch of Garsenda has selected for a sonic exhibition La Voix, they are exhibited in marquee space until 8 June. There is an opportunity to know more sonic artists to cooperate. I am glad that I tried multimedia, exploring music, dance, poems and voices. I intend to keep on interviewing and making audio poems. Maybe I will make podcasts and animation in the future.