Getting to know Bibi Lei, Sun-Kyo Park & Wahab Saheed, the three artists of the group show "The power of color" that is currently on view at VILLAZAN Madrid.

Bibi Lei, born in 1985 is a Portuguese-Chinese artist based in Tokyo, Japan. She describes herself as a "childlike soul that never grows old." Lei's love of painting and motherhood is manifested through self-taught techniques such as finger painting and untethered brushstrokes. "I paint fast and direct, because I don't think, I just go with the feeling."

When and how did you start painting?

I remember when I was 5 years old, in Lisbon, I started painting on the floor and wall tiles with my Grandma‘s ceramic paints. Grandma was a pottery painter. We had so much joy for 3 good years just before she passed away. Since then, painting has been a feeling of her love around me.

I remember when I was 5 years old, in Lisbon, I started painting on the floor and wall tiles with my Grandma‘s ceramic paints

Tell us about your creative process and your daily life in the studio.

I am an early bird, after my daughter is at school, I enjoy a light breakfast. Then I get back to my studio everyday in morning around 9 am. Then I start staring at the blank canvases in front of me. It depends on my mood which size I will do first. Next, I prepare all the acrylics color palettes ready and lid opened. When I see a glimpse of image in my head, I will go free flow with the colors on the canvas.

How has maternity influenced your painting style?

The little girl in my paintings, is actually inspired by the birth of my daughter, and seeing her grow as a child. At the same time, It also felt like a reborn to my inner child. My inner child and my daughter are spiritually connected. This gives me strength and bravery to be free on my canvas. Even strokes and textures ar by a child’s instinct. Almost like I am rebelling against the system called grown-up.

The little girl in my paintings, is actually inspired by the birth of my daughter, and seeing her grow as a child

Why do you paint with your fingers and not with a brush? Does it make a difference?

I paint mainly by fingers, sometimes with a long brush to feel the spacing of objects. Finger painting was something I started when was a little girl with my grandma. Now I still use my fingers to remember her. With my fingers, I am more sensitive to colors. The subtleness of pressure between my fingers and canvas brings out a primitive painting texture that I love. Also, To me, it is my best weapon to fight for each painting journey.

Finger painting was something I started when was a little girl with my grandma. Now I still use my fingers to remember her. With my fingers, I am more sensitive to colors.

What are your main influences in this exhibition?

My paintings interchange with my mood and events. As soon as I knew who the other artists were, I wanted to express how a young brave kid would behave when they are in a group performance, say a theater play. He/she would want to be at the center spot. Inspired by this, I came up with these 2 paintings for this group exhibition.

What do the colorful characters in your paintings represent? Who are they?

Some are my inner child, some are my daughter’s, some are just imagination. Nevertheless, all these colorful girls could be everyone’s colorful inner soul.

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Sun-Kyo Park was born in 1990 in Jeonju, South Korea. The characters that Park has created are influenced by the 8-bit video games the artist played during his childhood, and the simple yet harmonious graphic effects found in these games inspired him. Park has also found inspiration in the artworks of the Joseon Dynasty, including Buddhist paintings and King’s portraits that he often encountered in the museum, which he visited during family trips.

When and how did you start painting?

I started drawing from the moment I began sketching in my elementary school diary. I have fond memories of enjoying drawing the actions of characters from Game Boy games that I found fun at the time. Showing my thoughts through drawings felt more comfortable than conveying them through words or writing.

I started drawing from the moment I began sketching in my elementary school diary

What are your main influences? What artists do you draw inspiration from?

I am heavily influenced by the "stories" that people experience and encounter. In movies, novels, the Bible, and old stories passed down through oral tradition, human elements are embedded in all stories. I feel that the "people" one encounters in these stories are more realistic than the "people" one encounters in real life. Through the structure of stories in which events and people coexist, I believe we can contemplate more deeply on what it means to be human.

When looking at my work, one might assume that I drew inspiration only from portrait artists like Park Sookeun, Nicolas Party, and Brian Calvin. However, I have also drawn significant inspiration from Dansaekhwa artists such as Lee Ufan, Park Seobo, and Suh Se-ok. I believe that there is no fundamental difference between my work and Dansaekhwa art in the sense that people in my artwork are used as a single point, just like the points in Dansaekhwa art. In my work, people are the smallest units that constitute the world within the canvas, much like how points form lines and lines form surfaces, events are created by people, and events come together to form a world.

I am heavily influenced by the "stories" that people experience and encounter. In movies, novels, the Bible, and old stories passed down through oral tradition. [...]. I have also drawn significant inspiration from Dansaekhwa artists such as Lee Ufan, Park Seobo, and Suh Se-ok. [...]

What inspired you to create the works of this show?

I began envisioning my artwork with the idea that reality seems closer to dystopia than utopia. There were significant images that came to mind when conceiving the works: a cat chasing a laser beam frantically, people lining up towards something, individuals who stumble their way feeling the distance between themselves and others, strangers unsure of where to go, and the repetitive, seemingly mundane aspects of life within a dystopian worldview. My thoughts and concepts started by combining these images.

Tell us about the story and the reason for the painting "From the cradle to the grave".

Most people tend to separate their body and mind when they think. However, in my opinion, these cannot be separated for contemplation. When the body dies, the mind dies, and conversely, when the mind dies, the body cannot be considered alive. With this perspective, I wanted to represent the body in my artwork as a state unified with the mind. Therefore, the people in the artwork continually reach out their arms to measure the distance, trying to discern how far their bodies and minds are allowed to go. Through this sense of distance, they seek to understand their place of existence.

In my artwork, I wanted to question everyone about where our actual 'life' exists, through the depiction of people measuring the distance between birth and death. I established the idea that the cradle in which we are born is the same for everyone, symbolizing the equality of everyone's birth by portraying it as a box containing all commodities. Death, represented by a coffin and a tombstone, serves to convey that it is an inevitable part of our destiny from which we cannot escape.

Most people tend to separate their body and mind when they think. However, in my opinion, these cannot be separated for contemplation. [...].  I wanted to represent the body in my artwork as a state unified with the mind. Therefore, the people in the artwork continually reach out their arms to measure the distance, trying to discern how far their bodies and minds are allowed to go.

Who are the characters represented in "People in line"? Could you give us some more information about the laser idea and the distance?

As mentioned earlier, the people in my artwork are merely points, much like in Dansaekhwa art. Imagine that you're creating a world with LEGO. There would be many LEGO pieces, and within my canvas, these pieces are represented as people. I am creating a world through the component of people within the canvas. It's not important who they are; what they do is what matters.

What do you think about light? Light can be the guiding light that leads us into the future, or it can be the blinding light that dazzles our eyes. Thoughts about light can be contradictory, but we can't deny that it captivates our attention. Think about how it keeps us focused, and whether it represents truth or falsehood, or whether it is truth itself or not. Many things come to mind, don't they? Light is a metaphor for that.

As mentioned in my response to question number 4, the concept of 'distance' is related to the actions of the individuals reaching out their arms toward the light. The reason they extend their arms towards the light, even when merely looking at it would suffice, is because they don't feel it's close enough to their bodies. However, what's truly important, where they are going, doesn't seem to concern them much. Their focus is on measuring the distance between the light and themselves. In fact, it appears they have even less interest in where the light is coming from.

The reason they extend their arms towards the light, even when merely looking at it would suffice, is because they don't feel it's close enough to their bodies

What’s the “green screen”?

Green screen, also known as Chroma Key, refers to the background used in film or broadcasting to composite special effects. The reason why the characters in the artwork are portrayed with parts of their bodies floating is also related to this "green screen."

If you look at the videos I've posted on my Instagram, you will see that they appear to be composited into various locations. Through these videos, I wanted them to appear as if they were people wearing a modern version of an invisibility cloak. By compositing them through a "green screen" into various locations, I aimed to create the impression that they can exist in any place.

Green screen, also known as Chroma Key, refers to the background used in film or broadcasting to composite special effects. The reason why the characters in the artwork are portrayed with parts of their bodies floating is also related to this "green screen."

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Wahab Saheed was born in 1998 in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and major African financial hub situated along the South Atlantic Ocean. He graduated from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology with a Higher Diploma in Painting in 2019, and currently continues to work as a painter in his studio in Lagos. Saheed paints portraits of black identities. His portraits of black figures depicted through sharp and speedy gestural mark making in contrast to the planar and almost graphically posteresque composition of the spaces that they inhabit, succeed in strongly emphasizing the physicality and the spirituality that these subjects carry.

When and how did you start painting?

I started painting when I was really young, from having a creative older brother I watched made paintings and drawings, it was not long that I took interest into making art and shaped my mind into becoming an artist.

Why do you mainly use charcoal combined with pastels and acrylics? Do you like to experiment with techniques other than the one you mainly use?

I love to draw a lot and having this idea of combining drawing and painting together brought about the combination of such mediums also to show a lot of contrast from my emotive dark subjects created with charcoal against brightly layered colors of the acrylics, to reflect on the duality life itself, I like to experiment with other forms and mediums of art like oil colors and digital art depending on my temperament at the moment.

What was your inspiration for this exhibition?

The inspiration for this work was the effect and warmth summer brings to me as a person, I have placed multiple subjects around a cooling off environment to emphasize on the love of that particular season. I put my subjects in position that I also find myself experiencing as an artist.

The inspiration for this work was the effect and warmth summer brings to me as a person

Tell us about the color palette you use.

When I am done drawing with charcoal, I am drawn to using nicely layered pastel colors in different hues and saturations to separate my subjects from the background, some of my colors are mainly primary colors and complimentary colors

[...] Some of my colors are mainly primary colors and complimentary colors

Who are the characters you represent in your paintings?

The characters I exhibit in my work are people of my skin color, black to be precise, friends and acquittances who share similar back story and also an extension of who I am, I portray them in confidence, love, compassion and fullness of their character and beyond their facial features.

The characters I exhibit in my work are people of my skin color, black to be precise, friends and acquittances who share similar back story and also an extension of who I am, I portray them in confidence, love, compassion and fullness of their character and beyond their facial features.