Alice Lin is a surrealist artist whose whimsical world will invade your adulterated world and make it pure again. Her images exude childlike innocence with sophisticated exactness. Alice stays true to painting materials from her native China and believes that beautiful modern (or any other style for that matter) paintings can be created using classic Chinese painting techniques. Alice creates her own worlds that are fairytale-like and extremely inviting. She has an idealistic view of a world where all life forms can live in peace and harmony. Style.No.Chaser would also love to live in Alice’s world.
See the interview below.
“My ideal world has always been a very quiet one where animals, plants and …”
Please tell us a little about yourself – your childhood, siblings, where you grew up, what you liked as a child, strange thoughts as a child/now, unique attributes, where you live now, etc.?
I live in Beijing. I’m the only child in my family and I started drawing at 5 years old. I was a very naughty little girl, but drawing kept me quiet.
What does your art mean to you?
With art, I have my own world beyond the real world; I can travel there any time, I choose. Art also makes my real life more beautiful.
What tools do you use for the creation of your work and how did you create your personal art style?
I use Chinese painting tools – Xun paper (rice paper) and brush with natural mineral pigment. I really love the Chinese painting technique. I believe this technique is not just for classical painting, it can be used to execute any painting style. I use the Chinese technique for my own art and it works particularly well when drawing animals, plants and my unique and peculiar worlds.
A lot of your images seem to be from (and about) a different world – could you talk a little about this world?
My ideal world has always been a very quiet one where animals, plants and humans can coexist in harmony. . There would be no death, no war, no pain and no sickness. But the truth is everything has its end and we must comply with the laws of nature. However, one day we will all disappear and leave an empty body. I always ask myself these questions: Do we exist? Or is all this an illusion? This is the world my art portrays.
What is the worst critique you have ever received about your work? What is the best compliment that you have received about your work?
I haven’t really received any bad critique. The best compliment was when I sold my first picture. The fact that someone liked my work and pays for it is always an amazing compliment.
Your work is very intricate – what is the longest time you have taken to complete a piece? What piece was it?
Each piece usually takes half month or a month to complete. ‘You and Me’ is the piece I spent the longest time to complete. It took about 38 days. See ‘You and Me’ below.
Which artist/s do you look up to the most?
Andy Warhol, Nara Yoshitomo and Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang. These artists have always inspired me.
Since Style.No.Chaser is a men’s lifestyle magazine, what attributes/items/clothing /etc. do you think define a man?
Cufflinks.
What is your personal life philosophy?
‘Art is a lie that tells the truth.’
How can people learn more about your current and upcoming works?
I update my Behance and Instagram profiles frequently with new works and my works in progress.
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