At first, I had no idea about my recent work, and I think maybe I just start with my journal. However, I once invited to lunch at Brick Lane by my friend. I found a different side of London. Before I came to London, I thought it is rich, clean and gentle, and street markets are just like Oxford Street in my eyes. But Brick Lane is narrow, old, cheap and even a little bit messy, but it’s full of multi-cultures and diverse visual elements. Graffiti and collages decorate the old walls, and the weekend markets make Brick Lane even more alive. Thus, I came up with the thought of painting Brick Lane.

 

I used to wander on the street after class and photograph, interview or paint different people: local people, tourists, graffito artists and street artists, etc. I would sometimes ask them to help me write down or draw their impressions of Brick Lane. I wanted to grasp the atmosphere of the street so that I could use it in my painting, so I must consider not only my feelings but also others. Most of the people I interviewed believe that Brick Lane is multi-cultural and that’s why it looks a bit messy. That’s the first impression of Brick Lane that most people have.

 

Than I read a book about brick lane. It is one of the historical streets which located in East London. From 18th century onwards, Jewish, Irish and especially Bangladeshis population, were the main groups of inhabitants that lives on Brick Lane. English, Sylheti and Bengali were three common languages that has been spoken on the street at the time. The road sign of Brick Lane has also been written in both English and Bengali. Due to the multi-cultural of Brick Lane, different religions, such as Mosque, Islam and Judaism, were all been introduced by missionaries since 19th century. Through the developments of several decades, Brick Lanes has now become a street that filled with modern artistic elements and facilities. For example, there are regular displays of graffitis, weekend markets which opened up by art students, antique stores, secondhand shops and of course some night clubs. Brick Lane itself has become lively after the historical changes through centuries.  

 

After my research, I got back to Brick Lane and discovered its change bit by bit. The walls are covered with lots of graffiti, more that just a layer. Through the broken layers, I see colors and history. With communicating with more local people, I gradually found the state of life in Brick Lane. I once asked a street musician about what Brick Lane meant to him, he pointed at the wall behind him on which there was a phrase: what is the meaning of life. And that was what he had been looking for. Another local woman said:” I am sad for the incessant changes of Brick Lane, things are getting more and more expensive. There were no stores like these ten years ago.”

I asked owner of an Italian clothing shop why he didn’t decorate the facade of his shop. He said he liked the feeling of vicissitudes as if he could see the marks that time left. So we can see many vintage shops here.

The life here is easy, free and retro, young people have parties here to kill time. The mess it reflects is in fact a kind of release. I photographed a few details: bottle cap and cigarette butts on the ground and in the crevice of walls around the corner. Cigarettes, beer, graffiti and street artists have become the remarkable symbol of Brick Lane.

 

During the process from investigation to painting, I realized how important the logic was in the entire painting. It’s about seeking and developing inspirations which is not come up with without foundation, it needs choices and development. With modifying the painting, I discovered the cultural difference between China and the western world, it helped me fit in the life in London. Brick Lane is a place where individuality is respected, and all the individualities accomplish the personality of Brick Lane. In China, it’s totally opposite, we will often choose our individuality for entirety, during this process we sometimes have to sacrifice a part of individuality to keep the harmony of entirety. This is what I deeply feel when I investigated.

 

I’m deeply impressed by the difference between Chinese culture and Western culture. After I got in touch with people from different culture background, I strongly feel the difference between people who grew in different culture background. We are, including myself, grew up under Chinese one child policy. Therefore some people can be really selfish and self-centred. As a young artist in this generation, I always reflect on past mistakes and problems I faced and solved in life, along with self-examine and self-criticism.