VICTOR WANG

Artist Statement

My path through life has been adventurous, exciting, and dream-like. My experience of settling into America in search of better opportunities has been both challenging and inspiring. I use the human face as a vehicle to paint human experiences - worry and wonder, sadness and pleasure - which reflect the emotional stage directly tied to my immigration experiences.

I grew up amongst the sunflower fields in northern China. In my childhood years, I played under the bright, yellow sunflowers with my brothers everyday. China’s Cultural Revolution played an important part in my life. During that time, sunflowers were used as political allegories to depict how citizens of China should follow Mao who represented the sun, since sunflowers follow the sun’s movements. People eventually inferred the deception that this symbol masked. After graduating from high school, I was sent to a labor camp in the country for ‘reeducation’ during China’s Cultural Revolution. There, I was subject to grueling farm work. Often, I worked in corn and sunflower fields from sunrise to sunset. Thus, for me, sunflowers evoke both personal joy and sadness. Therefore, to deliver my complex feelings, I use sunflowers as a metaphor to connote my background and emotional stage.

My incorporation of collages of figures from China’s Tang Dynasty represents my Chinese heritage and is a constant reminder of where I came from. The texture and earthiness on the canvas’s surface are inspired by the texture of the soil on the farm where I worked in China.

Although I often gain great pleasure from the process of painting, it is most important to unfold expressively those feelings within myself.

Education

MFA  (painting) Department of Fine Arts, Fontbonne
.....University, St. Louis, MO
Visiting Scholar (painting), School of Fine Arts,
..... Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Visiting Scholar (painting), School of Art and Design,
..... University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
BFA (oil painting), Department of Oil Painting, Lu Xun
..... Academy of  Fine Arts, Shenyang, Liaoning, China

Selected Awards

2007  
Scholar and Artist Award, Winner, Fontbonne University, St. Louis, MO
2006  
Finalist, The Artist’s Magazine 23rd Annual Art Competition
2001  
An Award of Excellence, Art St. Louis XVII The Exhibition, St. Louis, MO
2000  
Bob and Sara Davies Merit Award, 50th Mid-States Art Exhibition, Evansville Museum of Art and Science, Evansville, IN
1999  
Award of Excellence Prize, Forte Cup 20th Century Asian Pacific Art Competition, Asian Pacific Art Institute of America, Forte International  Inc., Ellicott City, MD
1991  
First Prize, Portrait Competition 1991, St. Louis Artists’ Guild, St. Louis, MO

Victor Wang - Memoir of Sunflower

This book is Victor Wang's most recent works, featuring his sunflower series paintings in the last decade.

Format: Paperback / 11 x 11 in / 72 pages / 63 color
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-60743-227-2
Publication Date: 12-2-2009
List Price: $40

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