Six Acres 六畝地
Six Acres, named after the size of the land we have lived on in the last 20 years, is a two-channel video installation created from animating an ongoing series of watercolour paintings that Wan-Yi began in 2019.
The artwork explores the natural environment's influences on us in the last 20 years, reflecting on the value of intuition and nature's calming and comforting energy, a restorative power that has brought us nourishment and healing.
We will present Six Acres, a two-channel video installation, the first video iteration of Six Acres, in the exhibition NOURISH, which opens on January 22 to April 3 at the Richmond Art Gallery in BC, Canada. Watch Artist Interview Video produced by the Richmond Art Gallery here.
A portion of the watercolours in the videos was part of a mix-media installation comprised of watercolour, lightboxes and sound, presented by Dimension Endowment of Art 帝門藝術教育基金會 in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2019. The Dimension Endowment of Art is the longest-standing art foundation in Taiwan.
The story of Six Acres
"I had always been a 3D artist who had never used watercolour as a medium to create. In 2019, I was looking for a medium that would give me more direct and quicker outcomes. So, I explored watercolour for the first time without any preconceived subject in mind. I was curious to see what would come through my brushes. Soon it became apparent that I was painting the natural environment around me as if it had become part of me, subconsciously coming through my paintings." - Wan-Yi.
The paintings brought us to reflect on our relation to the land and how the natural environment had shaped us in ways that we didn't know it would before we moved here from Brooklyn. We realized that there was more to our intuition of wanting to be with nature 20 years ago, after witnessing the 911 from the rooftop of our Brooklyn studio.
In the last 20 years, we have gone through good times and bad times; we are grateful we could spend those times on this land. The seclusion and the lack of distractions had facilitated the need for self-discovery. And through the process, we both uncovered our childhood wounds which we weren't aware of back in New York.
Now we think back. It was our inner guidance at work, bringing us to a safe and nurturing environment that encourages a journey within. It knew about our needs before we did.
Our place, Six Acres, has beautiful natural features, including a creek, mature forests, ponds, grassland, and gardens, providing us with water, food, and fresh air. Evidently, what it has given us is more than the tangibles.
With intuitive brushstrokes, each watercolour conveys an observation of a feature, a rhythm, or an expression of the richness we experience on the land. There are close to 400 paintings up to date.
Animating the paintings allows us to portray that nature is never static; it is a series of ongoing transformations. Through animation movement, paintings' negative space becomes alive and visible, commenting on an invisible vitality and energy we experience in nature.
We view humans and nature are one, not separate. Therefore, spending time in nature is spending time with ourselves, which is self-care.
Press on NOURISH Exhibition
Watch Mizzonk’s interview with CBC News Vancouver.
Listen to Mizzonk's interview with Gloria Macarenko on CBC radio.
Watch Mizzonk’s interview with Fairchild TV Vancouver in Mandarin.
Read NOURISH exhibition review by Preview
Read NOURISH exhibition review by Gallery West