Interviewing Lana Yuan

Gallery 1265 talked with artist Lana Yuan.

Lana Yuan

She/her.

Specialist in Studio Art at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Where are you from? Where did you grow up?

I’m from mainland China. I grew up in Urumqi, Xinjiang, a province at the northwestern end of China.

What type of art do you make?

Kinetic installation.

What type of art would you like to try in the future?

Installation, painting and set design.

What have you been working on in the past year?

I was working on a series of paintings named Skinny Elephants that uses "thin-legged elephants" as a metaphor for the visual and mental image of a group in isolation. I was inspired by Salvador Dali’s elephant motifs. The elephants have exaggerated, long, spindly legs, making them look weightless, weak and crumbling while walking forward.

Skinny Elephants (2021)

What are some themes you’ve been exploring through your art?

I mainly explore how technological development and mass production affects human habitual activities, to produce sculptures and installations by fabricating and reassembling manufactured objects.

What or who inspires or influences your art?

Daily life is my source of inspiration. I hope to use domestic garbage and idle items to make sustainable artworks.

Skinny Elephants (2021)

Thanks to Lana Yuan for sharing.

Follow Lana on Instagram as @Lana_yuan

Visit Lana’s website https://www.lanajyuan.work/