As an artist and sculptor from Rutgers University, Joshua Araujo was invited to serve as the guidance artist for the clay workshop at the event. Araujo took ceramics as the main material in his artistic creation, but at the same time, he also maintained a strong interest in exploring multiple materials such as metal, concrete and gypsum. In the series of interviews, “Liu Shiming: Life Gives Beauty Form”, this respondent shared his personal understandings of Liu’s art as well as the significance of the exhibition and community activities, as being a sculpture artist himself from a different cultural and generational background, talking on the exhibition to clay workshop experience.
What do you think of this exhibition and the workshop you just did?
Joshua Araujo: First, I'm really excited and happy that Mason Gross is doing something like this during the summer, and it gives people something to do. And it's a beautiful exhibition. There's just so many sculptures that I can get into as a person. Liu is all about people, and the every day. And I find that I am very interested in the everyday as well, the domestic space, the banality of life, and finding joy in that. And then coupling this workshop with the exhibition, you know, that the kids come in and they see the work and hopefully they are directly inspired by that and they can maybe use that inspiration immediately. It's pretty special, not many people get the chance to do that.
Were there any pieces that inspired you or made you contemplate new ideas for your own artwork?
Joshua Araujo: Yeah, I was really into those jars, the animal jars. There was one in particular, the eagle wine jar that I really enjoyed. Due to the design of that, I've been getting more and more into it, wanting to make animals and just to have the functionality like that too. And I make pottery a lot so it's just another avenue to go down.
What I particularly like about Liu Shiming's sculpture is its "immediacy". The thing I like most is that you can really tell that Liu had got it out. It couldn't remain inside anymore. And it was almost like it was maybe burdensome that it was like life that the artist depends on so he get it out into the world via this sculpture, just the way in which the hand is in every sculpture. It's an immediacy. The one sculpture in particular is the drummer. You know, in this dynamic movement of the figure, you can almost hear the sound of the drum by looking at it, which is hard to do as an artist. So it's full of soul.
Liu Shiming's work is powerful. And it's easy to see, even if you don't like to look at art a lot, you can tell that there is a human touch, presence of life. The man breaks the mountain to bring water. That was extremely powerful. I don't know the full story behind it, but you can tell that it's more than just what the eye sees. It's like maybe allegorical or something like that of something larger. And it's also altruistic, like he's like a superhero. And I mean a man moving a mountain. It's almost godlike. But to bring it to other people, it's selfless too. That's what I like about it.
What unique advantages do you see in conducting the workshop at Liu Shiming’s sculpture exhibition?
Joshua Araujo: Just to reiterate, the fact that you're able to see, get inspired and then immediately use that inspiration without really having any space in between, it is also important to have time to think about things, but when you have that “immediacy”, I think it’s a special opportunity for folks to come and try out their hand, in creating something similar. And especially in the medium of clay, it's like drawing in that there's an immediate action of thought, and you can touch it, which is important. It's not going to hurt you. And it's really simple to manipulate so you don't have to have a lot of skill in order to produce something that is powerful.
Throughout the process, maybe the participants are understanding themselves. In the beginning, the kids were kind of reserved. It's a very short amount of time to be with a group of people. And by the end of an hour, you know, folks were showing me pictures of their pets on their phones. So, it was really nice to break down barriers through art.
Given the multidisciplinary nature of the program, how do you incorporate both art education and health mentoring into your Clay workshop?
Joshua Araujo: Well, just in the beginning, I always tell the students that it's important to have freedom of expression. Nothing is right and nothing is wrong. So, in that way, hopefully any kind of stress that they're feeling in the day or in the time prior to the exhibition and the workshop, hopefully melts away. It's therapeutic in that sense. And I hope that they can learn to use art as sort of an outlet for that type of energy, because I think that's the healthy portion of it. That is try and find yourself through expression. I've always used art as a therapeutic sense.
What do you hope students gain from this experience? How do you think this collaboration adds value to students' learning experience?
Joshua Araujo: I hope that they find a way to navigate life differently, to gain perspective by looking at art and then by actually trying to make art. They can find something that will make it easier to understand life or to cope with life if it's tough or even just to enjoy it, to think about those things that do bring joy to them and then that can possibly be broadcast to other people who view their art as a joyful experience. I think it's a pretty powerful medium or avenue to pursue as a person.
What impact do you think Liu Shiming’s sculpture exhibition and workshop will have on the cultural landscape of the community?
Joshua Araujo: Well, I hope that it brings the community into this space, because that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to have a wider outreach to the public rather than just students and the faculty members to come through these galleries here. I hope that they can find that a message like I was just saying, that joy, through that kind of radical act of joy through suffering, which is quite important in any person's life, no matter how good they have it, somebody needs that. And I think it's evident in all of the works that Liu found a lot of joy through the suffering.
What impact do you think Liu Shiming’s sculpture exhibition and workshop will have on the cultural landscape of the community?
Joshua Araujo: It was a beautiful exhibition, and I think the way that it was curated was really well done. I would love more time as an instructor just because as I was saying earlier, it took a good half hour just to get to a point of trust almost, where they see me as a human and not just like some authority figure. If I had more time, then we could use different materials or it would be nice to possibly have people who are already familiar with art and making with different materials. And then it could be a more advanced class or a combination of both. That would be nice too, because then the people who have more experience can show and be examples for those that don't. And when you mix groups like that, it's nice because it makes it easier for the instructor. But in terms of the exhibition, it is great. I love the way it was put together. All the groupings of the differences, interests so it is almost like time frames of the work. I think it is really nice.
Edited by CAFA ART INFO
Interview and Related Text Courtesy of the Organizers.
Interview and Related Text Courtesy of the Organizers.