‘Painting is a tool for exploring and expressing my values – today is precious because my time is finite.’
Artist: 제이 류 / J Ryu
Artistic style: Joyfully colouring our lives
Biggest artistic influence: Van Gogh, Gaugin & Cezanne
About the Artist
J Ryu is a talented artist who uses her paintings as way to joyfully add colour to our lives. Ryu’s art is really beautiful, and she has an amazing way of capturing scenes from ordinary, daily lives, and making them exciting. Her artwork is playful and full of life but they also capture the beauty of finite life (which is also a title of one of her pieces). When Ryu returned to Seoul after a decade of living abroad in Mexico (just before the pandemic), she felt that by comparison, everything in Seoul, buildings, people and cars, was colourless, or in her own words “all black and white”. This made her want to “paint the city with an array of bright colours” and to use “her palette to create a truly harmonious world.”
Ryu has only recently started to exhibit her works – her first exhibition was in February 2022, a joint exhibition with a former colleague from university. Following on from this she has been part of several art fairs and has had some solo exhibitions. During my visit to the exhibition, when I approached the section where her work is displayed, I heard everyone who looked at Ryu’s art react positively, which was lovely, so it is no surprise that her who collection sold out last year, something which she describes an unforgettable memory.
Talking of her artistic influences, Ryu describes how she felt “glorious” when she first saw Van Gogh’s work in Metropolitan, New York in 2011. I felt the same way when I visited the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Ryu’s art is highly influenced by impressionism and artists, such as Gaugin, and Cezanne, especially regarding the use of colours.
What is your dream project?
Recently, I started to create my work with the theme of food. When I was observing my daily life for my next work, I was naturally interested in the food, since it takes a lot of parts in our lives. What I could see from the food is the relationship between human beings and the rest time for myself. I would like to stick to scenes of daily life with food in various aspects for a while.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received as an artist?
“I think I should take the lead all the time during the creative process. When someone takes that role, it would become a service to satisfy someone, not my own artwork. Even though the audience cannot sympathise with my work 100%, my experiences and memories should be the main themes of my works and if they feel similar to mine, I would think that as a success.” This quotation is from a Korean musician, Code Kunst. Even though the genre is different, I feel what he said is similar to what I feel and I would like to deliver what I experienced and what I thought to the audience via visual art.
When you start new pieces, what does your creative process look like? Do you plan each piece out before you start, or do you let the piece come to life as you go?
I select the theme and subject of the work with the photos that I took, a book that I read and a movie that I saw, and make the collage of them with my iPad. Then I sketch and make a plan. Sometimes the sketch itself could be changed but most of the time I plan in advance before I start my piece.
How do you overcome creative blocks?
I take some rest and look around. Most of my subjects are in my daily life, so I go for a walk, watch a film and take a short trip.
Do you have a favourite piece of art that you’ve created?
I love the work ‘Alone, but not Alone’ that I submitted to this fair. This piece is about posting on Instagram about eating or drinking alone, then we feel we are not alone once we share it with others. It looks like my creating process: even though I work alone, once I share it on Instagram, I feel like I am being supported and not alone.
What’s the best reaction someone has had to your artwork?
In my solo exhibition last year, I exhibited ‘The World Beyond the Fence’ which is about a blue cat who likes the present – a comfortable life but is also always curious about the world that she never has been – beyond the fence. Many audiences show their sympathy about the theme. I observed that I could deliver more emotions when a message or a situation in the work suits the experience of the audience.
I feel thankful and proud when people said they sympathised or felt happy with my work even though I was just drawing my experiences.
Note
Ryu’s wish for those who look at her art is that they enjoy the joy that comes from the various colour on the work, and then imagine the story behind the work.
Ryu’s Instagram account, where you can follow her creations, as she posts regularly is: @jryu_art
Finally, a special thank you to Kim Yeunjin of Korean Art London for her considerable efforts in translating.