“Goldfish” series
Jonas Li
1. Till I Melt
Till I Melt was created with tissue paper, wax and oil color. After I finished Sharp Breeze, I decided to bring it to three dimensions, creating a sculpture artwork. When I was wondering which material to use, the tissue paper on the desk caught my eyes. I decided to use tissue paper as the main material and apply wax on it so it would become harder. Shaping a goldfish with tissue paper and melted wax was not an easy task, and brushing oil colors on this unique surface was challenging too. The pressure from peers, teachers, parents, and self-expectation was overwhelming me like wax, preventingme from pursuing my dreams. However, I could seize the chance when the wax melt and believe in my career goal. That is the reason why this artwork was named Till I Melt.
2. Sharp Breeze
Sharp Breeze was painted with painting brushes and masking tape in the winter of 2016. I wanted to draw out the image of winter winds in my memory; there were sharp wind and chilling breeze on my everyday route to school and back home. By tracing out the precise shape of each triangle with masking tape and carefully filling up each section with cool colors’ gradation, I recorded my impression of winter 2016. Near the center of the canvas, a gold fish was placed on the triangles. I painted the goldfish because it is representative of my qualities. Goldfish and I share many similarities: we like to swim, we live a casual and relaxed life, and we try hard to maintain the charming appearance.
3. Well-behaved Shadows
Well-behaved Shadows was created using acrylic colors, markers, and technical pens. I drew the goldfish by black markers and technical pens to enhance the colorful background. Well-behaved Shadows was my salute to the Belgium Surrealism master Rene Magritte, who is my favorite painter of the last century. In order to accomplish the same effect of Magritte’s famous piece, Golconda, I drew many vertical and horizontal pencil lines on the canvas to measure the precise points where I drew goldfish. Thus, the goldfish would sit on different points but swim toward the same spot. Normally, goldfish swim freely in the water; in Well-behaved Shadows, the goldfish looked like they were swimming in different directions yet they swim towards the same direction. In my real life, my classmates and I are similar to these goldfish; we seem to be independent yet we are all forced to comply with the expectations of family, teachers, and even the society.
