Critical Reflection
1. Memory
I am someone who tends to be quite nostalgic; capturing different kinds of memories is part of my everyday life, and the re-creation of these memories serves as the main driving force in my work. I often produce memorable moments, immersing myself in the joy or sorrow of these past experiences. However, as I continue to create around memory and read relevant literature, I have gradually come to realize that this practice goes beyond mere “nostalgia”—it is a process of reorganizing something new.
In the work of Belgian contemporary artist Luc Tuymans, memory is never a neutral or objective archival system. It is profoundly influenced by personal emotions, social atmosphere, and historical perspectives, often filtered through a subjective lens. Tuymans frequently draws upon archives, images, or his own experiences as a starting point, yet he does not simply “replicate” the past; rather, he uses a nearly “faded” approach to convey the elusive quality of memory that resists true restoration.
Luc Tuymans, Altar, 2004
Luc Tuymans, editorial, 2004
In his works, I saw many fleeting memories—moments that feel eternal—and I found myself immersed in these images. The "fading" technique he uses has also provided significant inspiration and reference for my piece That Day We Ran by the Water. I am particularly drawn to the low-saturation colors, which I find delicate, a blend of happiness and sorrow. The hazy textures evoke a sense of curiosity, making me want to explore the emotional tones of those memories. Perhaps memories are meant to be in these colors.
In Joan Gibbons’s Contemporary Art and Memory: Images of Recollection and Remembrance, she underscores that memory is no longer merely a “historical review” or “personal reminiscence” but is instead integrated into the core context of artistic creation, providing a crucial vantage point for re-examining questions of identity, history, and even politics. For painting in particular, the capacity of memory to enable both “re-narration” and “image reconstruction” ensures that it retains a distinctive critical and symbolic significance within the multimedia environment of contemporary art.
I believe that memory is not simply a means of corroborating the past; it is an ongoing process of re-creation—a continual cycle of “breaking apart, reorganizing, and reinterpreting.” Memory is both a source of raw material and a key avenue toward reflecting on social, historical, and personal identity issues. It is no longer just “nostalgia” or “recollection” but rather a means for me, in my work, to question, dismantle, and unearth the structures and tensions hidden behind mainstream narratives or individual accounts. At the same time, when viewers encounter certain historical traumas, epochal shifts, or personal pains within my works, they also inevitably connect these memories to present-day social issues and individual circumstances.
After reflecting on these ideas, I began to constantly reassemble my memories of water in the piece That Day We Ran by the Water, experimenting with collaging and layering different elements. Every droplet and raindrop represents a different perception of a memory. They are no longer simply nostalgic or immersed in the past but come together to form something new. What do the transformations of rain bring to us? What new perceptions arise from all the watersides I’ve run past since childhood? I keep questioning and challenging the purely nostalgic approach to creation. However, this work is experimental—it is neither fully complete nor mature. In the future, I will continue to explore more ways to express and reconstruct memories.
