The Modern Chaos and Nostalgia – by Sarea Wang

Cars passed by outside the house at a fast speed and made loud noises; People walked at a fast pace to get their destination. I am definitely one of them. I also do things in a hurry and hope to reach my goals as fast as I can. I hardly hold my inner peace to be able to slow down or perfect each step of my art creation. It sounds like I should become an impressionist or abstract artist. However, the peaceful, joyful, and beautiful poetic mental status is what I am dreaming to have.

I feel in this chaotic world, there is always so much competition, so much anxiety, and so much desire. I am always in a maniac situation to feel the urge to accomplish my task or reach my goals as soon as possible.

I first started my art creation by doing master copies in acrylic. My favorite pieces were the paintings created during the Dutch Golden Age, such as Dutch floral paintings and portrait paintings. I did master copies in acrylic of Vermeer’s works, such as The Milkmaid, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Girl with a Red Hat.

I also did master copies in acrylic on Dutch floral paintings.

One day, I felt like getting some formal art training in classical art, so I found the program I am studying right now, the Classical Atelier at Gage Academy of Art. However, I feel the challenge of slowing down when I am in the program. This is not only an art training but also a training for Craftsman spirit. I feel the anxiety from starting to finishing a piece. I feel that I don’t know how to hold my inner peace to follow the process of drawing accurately on paper with graphite, then transferring it to the canvas, doing a careful wipe out with raw umber, then painting with oil paint in several layers, after three to six months varnishing it, after varnishing dry for a week do the framing. It takes time and effort to finish each single piece.

When I first started this art gallery, I felt that I could include all kinds of artwork on my website. However, when I further consider my cultural background and my learning experience, I think traditional artworks and handicrafts are the fields I want to focus on in my gallery. I know it feels boring to paint a painting like a photograph. However, human eyes are different from the digital camera. The real image seen by different people can be different and each image is different and unique. That’s why it is precious to have the paintings created traditionally. Back in the old times, there were no computers or cameras, so artists could only paint their subjects according to what they saw in their eyes or minds. I like the artworks that combine artists’ temper and artistic inspiration with their advanced painting skills. Simply copying what they saw can only create a dead image, but with some artistic expression, the artwork will go beyond reality.

I decided to curate and invest in those artworks that touched me and spoke to my soul. As we are living in this world, our thoughts and behaviors might keep changing along with this dynamic world. I hope that I will find a pure land of soul through art, and I also hope to invite you to visit and join in this pure land to escape the noisiness and chaos in this world. Artworks have strong power to deliver the message we can’t completely express through words. I am glad that I started this art business journey to create the freedom and peace that my heart desires. I wish to find the peace and poetic beauty in art and present them to the public. This will be a lifetime adventure to create a spiritually pure land and make it a borderless kingdom that welcomes more people to join in.