Your KM series consists of abstract lines; are these lines at some level symbolises the vivacity of borders? What do you make of borders, such as class, race, gender, religion and so forth?

Borders do exist objectively in real societies, the recent conflict in the US is one of the evidence. The hatred between white and black peoples has never been eased out. Since Obama was elected as the president, the situation had changed, meanwhile, white people feel being depressed. The borders between races and religions are hard to go through, perhaps this is a conundrum left by god to humans. The borders between classes are even more evident, even though earning money and education can improve the issue, the confinement of race and religion is inevitable. Race and class form most social borders, and people live in their own world when transgressing, it will cause conflicts.

Art brings Hope to us, nevertheless.    

Elon Musk recently gave a thumbs-up to an image which I like. The image shows: The “EARTH” without “ART” is just “EH”. Without art, the earth becomes meaningless. The nature of art is to create, and liberty is the foundation. Artists should transgress all kinds of confinement between borders, being free from specific forms and contents. Crossing the borders of knowledge and experience, between history and the future, the present shines. KM series is trans-cultural, which is not only based on my personal experience living in both eastern and western coasts but also my absorption between two cultures. Subjectively I do not distinguish borders, it is part of my good trait, very natural. If you like both cheese and stinky tofu, for you they are compatible. A lot of people who are against the other culture lack the patience and time to understand the other culture. You cannot learn only through books, you need to feel. A lot of scholars they only wander around like Flâneurs, who alienate themselves from reality, only treating views as spectacles.

Due to the pandemic, the world is changing, can you talk about how is it related to your thinking?

Pandemics are not permanent, the current one is the same. All will end.

The changing of the world is according to the progress of human society, and one becomes stronger, it is natural to gain a larger space for survival, which influences from trade to ideology.

During the pandemic, people are more relying on the internet, and through the internet, museums and low images can all present to you. Artist will post their latest work instantly on the social media. The way of promoting art has changed, including art-making itself. I have recently reduced my work, adding more paper-based paintings. Compared with the last year big paintings, I am more obsessed with drawing on paper, which is an extension of my 1988 artworks. My art has always focused on three themes: Wasteland, KM and POP-R. POP-R was formulated last year, it means a pop revolution. Each time has its own popular sign, especially the symbols and images in daily life.

For you what is the possibility in abstract art in contemporary time, and what is the particular area you want to tackle?

Abstract art liberated artists from traditional representationalist approach, and it is a natural cause. It is not difficult to see the outlook of the locations of abstract artists and collectors. Abstract art is active in developed countries and regions, especially in the US, UK, France and Germany. Abstract art dominates the art world in those places. If one is familiar with Western art history, the historical progress is very clear. Social media such as, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest are the major players promoting abstract art, however, it is a shame that still many people cannot see. Contemporary art is inseparable from the globalised social network.

As Chinese American, do you think your identity is more relevant to the ecology of contemporary art?

Artists of the older generation tried to localise abstract art in China, however, the result is not ideal. When Takashi Murakami studied in New York, he realised that Japan did not have contemporary art, the manga is good enough. Therefore he changed himself, not promoting Western contemporary art in Japan. He has become a successful manga artist. The dissynced information between the West and the East made it difficult to discuss art in the same realm.

My abstract works are mostly in KM series. I prefer using multi-media to paint, especially the ones I have not used before. To break away tradition, changing the media is a primary approach. I am satisfied with my recent abstract works, hoping they will be maturer. I am trained with academic protocols and gradually become an abstract artist, thereafter unconsciously the brushwork contains traditional footmark. If I cannot kick the bottleneck, then I will be following the black mountain school or New York School. I have got full scores for representationalist work at the university and was an outstanding art student. But I think I cannot be an artist, if only following the academic teaching.

How does the pandemic affect you and what is your vision for future art and exhibition?

I was not affected by it that much, even though at first I was a bit nervous. It is new to experience such a thing in the US. But now it is fine, facing real works of art, it makes people want to live.

The future is probably relying on online exhibitions, while the crucial thing is to find a good solution about digital representation. Now people are more interested in photoshop, and I saw many ugly photos seem to be very popular. Bad art dealers enlarged photos and print on canvas and sell them as oil paintings, they are the so-called zombie oil paintings. In offline exhibitions, viewers can see the original work, and it will satisfy our desire to respect the original and prevent bad photoshopping. It is hard to photoshop abstract art, as artists use the improvised brush to create, even artists can hardly repeat themselves. This particular aspect is also convenient for collectors, and most highly valued contemporary artworks are abstract.