Funa Ye 叶甫纳

Dazed speaks to a few of the most talented Art & Design students at the prestigious London college

Text by Amah-Rose McKnight-Abrams

Dazed speaks to a few of the most talented Art & Design students at the prestigious London college

Central St Martins College of Art and Design has a reputation spanning decades, boasting an alumni that includes filmmaker Mike Leigh, Paul Simonon of the Clash, author Richard Millward, Hussien Chalayan, Lucien Freud and Faris Badwan of The Horrors. But the focus this time is on the Fine Art MA. Founded by Joanna Greenhill, the show marks the end of an era in two ways since this was Greenhill last show as head of the department and also the last one before the college relocates to Kings Cross in autumn 2011. Josh Baum, Ami Clarke and Funa Ye were three of the artists that stood out. Dazed was lucky enough to catch up with them to find out what brought them to this point, and how they might move forward.

Funa Ye

Funa Ye created filmed moving portraits of herself dressed as members of her family, who are from China, over a period of time. Dressed as him and other family members she recreates actual family photographs as she mimes to a tape recording of her grandfather as is played very quietly through the semi static photograph (in the photograph of her grandfather). Drawing from Cindy Sherman the show was also reminiscent of the idea of re written histories.

Dazed Digital: You use the history of your family for your show, with quite wonderful results, how would you move forward? Would you always work with human stories?
Funa Ye: The next plan is hard to say, on the one hand the subject of family history is worth developing further, on the other hand there are many other ideas in my mind. I have not decided yet how to go next, although there are many difficulties. But I think it is just beginning, everything is in a good direction.

In fact, we all live in history, but we are not conscious. In a very chaotic, mindless reality, we cannot see the future, so we often in a quandary. We tend to look back and bring back memories. Recalling the past time bring me the incentive to work. People do not only have the ability to remember, people also have the ability to forget, and those who can not be forgotten is become a post -memory. I think that post - memory is not just history, but also a imagination and re-creation. It takes our attention to the time and change.

DD: How did you decide on the concept for your show?
Funa Ye: Original intention to do this work when I moved to London later, I began to rethink the issue of personal identity. Living in a foreign land made me think about myself, and other people's differences. So I started research on the personal identity and image. This research slowly evolved into a kind of personal history, dating back. I found that every immediate family have more or less influenced me and made me become such a person now. This effect is not only the appearance, and also their experience of the times, social, ethnic and culturally. I decided based on a family member of the youth's portrait photographs to create my work.

DD: How would you progress creatively in an ideal world? What would you do if you could do anything?
Funa Ye: I think a mature artist should have its own context and concepts consistent. Creativity comes from life, when some ideas formed, as long as life continues, is endless, the key is to have their own discretion, determine what you are good at and what is really touch you. Anything? Aha, I want to travel around the world, in every place to do my solo show, make lots of friends, make life very fulfilling.