Kristycharay Solo Exhibition

May 4 - 28, 2022

  • From small sketches of still lifes to large paintings of portraits, Kristycharay wields acrylic paints and charcoal pen to depict her observations of the people and objects around her. During the planning and preparation leading up to the exhibition, we at the Eslite Gallery had a chance to sit down with Kristycharay at her studio and learn about the creative process of these works.

     

     

    The subjects we’ll see in the paintings in the exhibition, can you tell us how they came about? 

    I would first photograph them, hoping the person would not bring any emotions. Ideally, I prefer them to not have prepared anything for the shot. I just want to take a good look at them and their story. I like observing people around me, so I want to look back and get to know them again in my own way. And I really enjoy that.

  • Unlike in the past, can we say most of the paintings were done by looking at photographs? When I’m painting... Unlike in the past, can we say most of the paintings were done by looking at photographs? When I’m painting...

    Unlike in the past, can we say most of the paintings were done by looking at photographs? 

    When I’m painting from photos, the details, they pop out and become very three-dimensional. Perhaps I used to put on a habitual lens when seeing things with my eyes, so I kind of rejected the practice of painting from photographs. But after I tried this method, I realized I was not merely looking at the photograph to paint, but rather it’s actually helping me to present a certain mood in the process. When I look at a photo, there’s still the challenge of it being lifeless. You can’t possibly paint from what you see in the photo, because the lighting is fake, it’s not real. You can let it take on a different look only when you transcend the photo itself. There was this one time when I was on vacation in St. Petersburg with my mom. As I was taking a selfie, I saw a beautiful light on my face that I had never seen before. It suddenly hit me that painting is not just about techniques or what the hands or the eyes can do. If you can see something out there that’s what you are after, then that’s enough. That light has then found a place in my mind, in my eyes, or in my head—that feeling of being in the moment, that transient elusiveness. I’m like great, that’s what I’m looking for. What I’m depicting is precisely that light. To me, it doesn’t seem to matter much whether it looks like a portrait or not anymore. 

  • Where do the many colors on the face come from? The light on our faces is always changing, so I...

    Where do the many colors on the face come from? 

    The light on our faces is always changing, so I can’t really give it an absolute color. When I used to paint people in real-life settings, I would keep wander about and look intensively to see where that light was, checking over and over again. Then I would get very excited when I saw it, thinking no one else did but me. It’s the same with photos. They are two dimensional, so you have to be able to see beyond it. I am always looking for something there and I revel in the uncertainty and fluidity. When suddenly it’s no longer flat and it’s breathing, it becomes totally different from one moment to another. Like this 36-year-old guy. What I want is to paint him from the age of one to 36 and show all of him. There are bright areas and dark places, suggesting that sometimes he might not be having his best days but there are times when he’s on the verge of new breakthroughs. 

     

     

    曲家瑞 KRISTYCHARAY, ZONHUAN, 2022

    SOLD

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    What is painting to you? 

    Painting is just an ordinary, everyday thing. I used to think of painting as this grand sacred practice, where you set yourself a big goal to achieve, with big stories and big pictures running in the head. But with time, after I have come to understand more things, I feel like there’s no need to look at it with such ceremonious solemnity. Less serious, that’s what I want. That’s why I have to keep myself calm now, so my paintings don’t know I am excited. If they knew, they wouldn’t be real. 

  • 曲家瑞 KRISTYCHARAY, 母親，飯桌的時光 TABLE TIME, 2021 NT$ 1,110,000 Click image to view more
    曲家瑞 KRISTYCHARAY, 母親，飯桌的時光 TABLE TIME, 2021

    NT$ 1,110,000

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    Kristycharay's studio

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  • What’s the reason for the large size paintings? I want the portrait paintings to be life size. It’s probably the...

    What’s the reason for the large size paintings? 

    I want the portrait paintings to be life size. It’s probably the most comfortable dimension when two people are looking at each other. What I want is for the painting to look back at you, so you see that someone as a person you know or perhaps yourself. When I painted my nephew, many people said he looked like someone they knew. And that’s exactly my intention—they are able to see in the painting someone who had been in their life or is now a part of their life. I want to paint ordinary people but make them extraordinary. You first see the paintings, then you get to know them. 

     

     

    曲家瑞 KRISTYCHARAY, 翰翰 MAXX, 2020

    SOLD

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  • What can you tell us about these two self-portraits? Painting the self-portraits is more like a passage in my creative...

    What can you tell us about these two self-portraits? 

    Painting the self-portraits is more like a passage in my creative process. After I painted the first one, I immediately thought that I must do another one in the future to look back on myself. I believe when we look at ourselves, we are also fine-tuning ourselves. These two self-portraits are two years apart. I completely let go when I did this one without so much as thinking. In fact, I like to draw on paper. I thoroughly enjoy moving my hands and using lines to impart dimensionality under flat lighting.

     

     

    曲家瑞 KRISTYCHARAY, 自畫像 SELF PORTRAIT, 2020

    NT$ 560,000

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  • I also like to play it by ear. The day I was thinking about painting a self-portrait, I was wearing...

    I also like to play it by ear. The day I was thinking about painting a self-portrait, I was wearing a striped top because I had thought about painting stripes for some time. But then I thought, shouldn’t my self-portrait be different now that I am 57? So I took off my striped T-shirt. When I was painting, I wondered what color I was supposed to be. I could’ve painted light colors, but I didn’t feel like I was those colors, and I was saving the brightest colors for my hair, pants, and underwear. The one thing that I really wanted to show was the eyes. I hoped they can still tell stories.

     

     

    曲家瑞 KRISTYCHARAY, 家瑞 KRISTY, 2022

    SOLD

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    What about the smaller paintings? Can you talk a little bit more? 

    The small paintings are actually the beginning of how all these paintings started. I told myself at the time (2016) that I wanted to dive into another form of painting. For some reason, I wanted to start painting something more realistic, do everything slower and learn to be a keener observer like a monastic practice. It had to be random and unplanned, because if it was planned, I would be thinking about how to set everything up. But I wanted it to be pure. I didn’t give it much thought about the subjects. They just needed to be seen in their original size, so I looked for objects that would fit into a 20 by 20 centimeter frame.

  • What inspiration did you get from painting your younger sister? When I saw her all cozied up in those complex...

    What inspiration did you get from painting your younger sister? 

    When I saw her all cozied up in those complex layers of blankets that day, I immediately thought, my god, that’s the most complicated bundle of blankets I’ve ever seen, and it won’t happen again if I miss this chance. Plus it looked so natural, so I decided to paint it. I found out later that it was extremely difficult. I regretted it not long after. This happens all the time—I overestimate myself and underestimate the challenge. Every time I paint, I am contending with myself, and the struggles lead to self-doubts. But the unknown kept me going forward, and I finished the painting without realizing it. And that’s it!

     

     

    曲家瑞 KRISTYCHARAY, 元元 LISA, 2022

    NT$ 660,000

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    Installation views of Kristycharay Solo Exhibition

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  • Guided Tour of Kristycharay Solo Exhibition

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  • 曲家瑞 Kristycharay, 一塊布 Piece of Cloth, 1984 (View more details about this item in a popup).
    曲家瑞 Kristycharay, 冰箱 Refrigerator, 1984 (View more details about this item in a popup).
    曲家瑞 Kristycharay, 吸塵器 Vacuum Cleaner, 1982-1983 (View more details about this item in a popup).
    曲家瑞 Kristycharay, 一塊布 Piece of Cloth, 1984
    SOLD 

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    Kristycharay Solo Exhibition

     

    ‧ Date: 04 May – 28 May, 2022

    ‧ Address: ESLITE GALLERY∣B1, No. 88, Yanchang Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 110055, Taiwan (eslite spectrum Songyan Store)

    ‧ Opening Hours: 11am-7pm, Tuesday – Saturday (closed on Sunday and Monday)

     

    To enquire about available works by Kristycharay, please send us an email, or click “ENQUIRE" above.