AN EXPERIMENTAL AND INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST BORN OUT OF ADVERSITY: KARRY KA YI HON. BY LAVENDER DAI

Karry Ka Yi Hon is a second-year international student majoring in Visual Arts. She was born in China and grew up in Hong Kong. She is currently studying visual arts at Simon Fraser University, majoring in contemporary art. She is good at combining experimental and cross-disciplinary techniques to create paintings, sculptures, and illustrations. And through her diverse cultural background, artistic experience, and knowledge, Karry is expected to promote the dialogue between Western and Asian art and traditional and contemporary art.

Q: What's your background? 

A: My name is Karry Ka Yi Hon, and I am a second-year student majoring in Visual Arts at SFU Vancouver. I had my middle school majoring in biology and chemistry. Still, later, I found that I like meditation, creative, artistic experience exchange with others, so I resolutely out of the comfortable around to study contemporary art. Although my family members are not engaged in the art industry, they have no idea about art, and even have an opposing attitude towards my pursuit of art, I will still stick to my path of becoming a contemporary artist. I will seek recognition from my family and the art circle for my artistic performance.

Q: Name something you love, and why.

A: I like to explore new things with people close to me, such as trying new restaurants or traveling to places I've never been to before. My most recent unforgettable experience was a trip to some of Hong Kong's local islands with my friends during the Christmas holiday. In recent years, we found that there have been a lot of art murals and art shops on these islands. We are delighted to see the revival of these local arts, which have been forgotten in recent years due to the intense commercial atmosphere in Hong Kong. In my opinion, the journey of discovering new experiences and challenging the unknown with the people I love makes me feel hopeful and optimistic in life. I don't like to be lonely on the road, so companionship also brings me closer to others, making each trip more exciting and happy. Whatever the final scene is good or bad, can enjoy together location along the way, is an excellent life experience.

Q: How do you work?

A: I live and work in my studio apartment. For me, the bathroom is the place where I everyday thought and reflection, because in the process of convenient and bathing my life down pressing the rhythm, let I can in a relaxed environment for "brainstorming." I usually put music on the work in the living room, while the table will put some washed tomatoes, biscuits, and coffee, which is to let me feel hungry after can satisfy hunger. When I'm busy meeting deadlines, I order takeout and work late into the night. But making art late at night is not something that bothersome to me because the quiet of the night and the light on my desk allows me to focus more on the creative process and the space to be alone.

Q: What's the best piece of advice you've been given? 

A: I don't think we can find solutions by focusing on the problem itself. I did not have any creative inspiration in a project with a customized title in the painting course. Later, the professor led me to think about the related tools or practice of painting. For example, does painting have to be done on canvas? Then I asked myself some questions: Is the painting course just a painting? Can I do work related to painting? What is the connection between the subject/object, material, creation process, and me in the painting? In this class, I slowly realized that there is no such thing as uninspired because everything and people in life are closely related to the artist and their creative process. Now I have endless ideas; I want to create a lot of work. I want to share with others the satisfaction and joy that creation brings to me.

Q: Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it? 

A: To a large extent, the life of art is solitary. Because no one in the world has the same life experiences as you, I like most of the artists, because when a lot of people don't understand and work, they can't get others' love and question the creation thought of yourself, and feel depressed. Although the road is lonely, I will focus on my favorite things, making my heart calm. Secondly, each finished product gives me a full sense of satisfaction and pride. It symbolizes what I love in life, contains my independent ideas, knowledge, and feelings, and is a small achievement list that I strive to follow and achieve.

Q: What do you like about your work?

A: I like my work to be experimental and interdisciplinary. Experimentally, I think every creation is an opportunity to learn new things. I don't define my finished product as a "success" or a "failure." For me, the creative process is a result. Secondly, my work is interdisciplinary because it should not be limited to creating contemporary art, to point, subject, medium, material, or even culture. I particularly like my work to explore the possibilities between Chinese and Western art and culture, reality and abstraction, "tradition" and "innovation," and even "art" and "non-art." Hence, I regard my work as a bridge to build relationships.

Interview by Lavender Dai -Visual artist