Quentin Yang

Kailun Yang (Quentin) is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist who creates sculptures that explore themes of fear, loss, and private and social interactions. His sculptures embrace conceptual strategies and abstract visions using natural materials: abaca skin pulp, bamboo, grass, metal, glass, thread, and human organics.

Kailun’s current drawings narrate safety and comfort in uncertainty. Through his drawings, he explores the coexistence of security and insecurity and uses playfulness to bring harmony and balance.

Kailun earned his 2020 MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Fiber and Material Studies. Kailun has shown his work in China, Japan, and the United States.

Collect Bean: What role does color play in your practice? 

Quentin Yang: This is a very good question that I’m still developing the answer to. In my earlier work made during the pandemic, I vibrantly used color. Color reminded me of how bright, beautiful, and colorful nature is. During the pandemic, I wanted to encourage myself and my audience. During that period, color represented hope. For me, color was therapeutic. Currently, however, my character of color has changed in my work. My color doesn’t always match perceived reality or what might be expected. Instead, I use graphite (black & white) for most of my drawings. In one piece, I might only use 1 or 2 colors. I want to draw my audience’s attention and bring their focus to the particular content or attitude I’m expressing. For example, in Birdy Series #4, I want to express how tightly these trees are interconnected but how separated people are. The people are not very close, and most of their bodies are hidden underground. We feel their insecurity but also their hope and tentative willingness to reach out and connect with others. They keep their polite distance but still have hope for others. That little touch of yellow in those tender flowers are seeds of hope for them. Even introverted people have the desire for human intimacy, as the trees have. But we are still hesitant and reserved. I use these 1 or 2 vibrant colors to represent hope and desire. 

Collect Bean: Are there any recurring themes or motifs in your art, and if so, what do they represent to you? 

Quentin Yang: Nature juxtaposed with non-nature—the dichotomy of nature & man-made. In my universe, natural elements like grass, trees, and flowers represent my desire for what I expect, hope, leisure, and a peaceful life. Humans & human-made items like bricks, fences, thread, curtains, window frames, and cushions represent the reality and starkness of human existence. This is the struggle — our attempt to be more natural. To find the playful harmony between these two opposites. And where they harmonize, this is our balanced compromise. This is where I find comfort in uncertainty and safety in the face of insecurities. 

Collect Bean: How do you balance your practice with your daily life? 

Quentin Yang: I used to work in a professional artist studio with other artists. It didn’t really work for me. So, I set up my studio in my home. This is the best approach for me. I’m better able to think independently and get my ideas on paper. I am much more relaxed. I want my art to be involved closely with my daily life. I find it empowering to pick up a pencil or a brush immediately whenever the inspiration hits or an image develops. I live next to a park near the lake, which inspires me. I often catch inspiration on a walk or sketch under a tree in the park. I integrate my art practice into my daily life. It is an extension of my daily life.

Collect Bean: What does an ideal day in your studio look like? 

Quentin Yang: I get up on a cold, gloomy, rainy afternoon, brew my coffee, eat my “breakfast,” and clean up the mess I made the night before on my studio table. Then, I open my sketchbook, review the piece I plan to draw and begin. I finish around 3:00 AM and then crash in bed. 

Collect Bean: Are there any artists or movements that have inspired or influenced your work? 

Quentin Yang: Georgia O’Keefe for her self-reliant independence. David Hockney for his masterful use of color. Jean Jacques Sempé for his simple use of lines. Liam Walker for his commitment and matter-of-fact attitude towards his work. 

Collect Bean: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be? 

Quentin Yang: Never give up art-making, and don’t register for undergraduate accounting ;-) 

Collect Bean: Do you have a saying that you live by? 

Quentin Yang: Lower your expectations. 

Collect Bean: If you had to describe your work in only three words, what would they be?

Quentin Yang: Intimacy. Playfulness. Harmony.

Collect Bean: What is something that you do to stay focused? 

Quentin Yang: Medicate with Fluoxetine, Buproprion, and Propranolol. Listen to True crime serial killer podcasts. Sketch trees in the park.