Jarvis Hua

Lives and works in New York, NY

Artist statement

I work mainly with painting, and my works investigate disregarded places in modernized environments. Inspired by my experience of living in a foreign country for almost eight years, I became intrigued by the concept of “non-places,” that is, intermediate places where people remain anonymous, disengaged and estranged. These transitional sites include subway stations, elevators, highways, sidewalks, public bathrooms, etc. Often built for maximal function and minimal aesthetics, they are common and necessary for society to function. Carefully observing and analyzing these spaces gives me the feeling as if I am trapped in a maze, both in time and space — everywhere looks identical and indifferent, as if there is no escape and no future. Overtime, the routine passage through these spaces becomes homogenous fragments of discontinuous experience and memory. In order to covey the cold gleam of mundanity, I depict subjects that are industrial and/or desolate. I explore my relationship with these spaces through the tools of composition, light, and colors, fragmenting the pictorial space with jointed panels, incongruous perspectives, and the geometric division of colors. Additionally, I utilize unconventional cropping to deprive the personality of the space I depict, leaving questions and curiosities about the subject but also implying a sense of time. By cutting, carving, drilling, and stacking my surfaces, I emphasize the materiality of my paintings and the notion that they are...

Artwork