Ying Xu
SWISS ICON
瑞 士 图 标
SUSTAINABLE VISUAL LINGUISTIC
This art project will take you into a new journey of
SWITZERLAND
SWISS ICON
The audience as part of the artwork
- Reading Images
We often say that artists have the ability of showing us the things that we have known the whole time and experienced the whole time but have never paid special attention to; things that we would not notice otherwise and that suddenly become“visible”. One could say they are making the “invisible” become “visible”.
The "SWISS ICON" series is such a collection of iconic Swiss items, such as traditional Swiss festivals, famous Swiss attractions as well as nostalgic memories.
It all started with my relocation to Switzerland 7 years ago. At that time, like all newcomers who first arrive in a totally new environment, I experienced many things around me as veryoriginal and interesting. More and more I had the urge to know the origins and stories behind those things. Living in Switzerland has given me a lot of time and chances to learn and experience daily life and Swiss culture and tradition. I kept doing my daily observations, accumulating items that are fresh and very ‘Swiss’ for me. At the beginning, when I first came to Switzerland, it was items like the Alphorn, Butterzopf, Cheese Fondue, or Grittibänz which fascinated me. To understand them, I read, researched, asked my husband and kids, or chatted with my girlfriends, sharedcooking experiences with neighbors, and so on.
My daily life is inseparable from translating, misunderstanding, debating and re-understanding, which is sometimes tiring but also enriches me. During this learning process, I gradually developed my way of visually expressing the connection between a culturally representative item and its linguistic interpretation in another culture–my culture.Unlike my other works, the "Swiss Icon" series does not have an abstract theme which may be difficult to access and comprehend. The style and composition of the series was inspired by teaching my kids Chinese, especially the common game we usually played during our childhood: reading image cards (看图说话,Kàn tú shuō huà). It is a typical game for Chinese language training in whih Chinese characters are written in a classic four red square per character grid, followed by the transcription in Pin Yin (a system of Romanization for Chinese). In the “Swiss Icon” series the paintings and German name of the portrayed item are placed in a juxtaposed position, which creates an interesting interaction. The nature of the painting, as well as the font are an expression of my understanding of Swiss spirit: smart, clear, precise and practical.
With this project, I embarked on a very special and personaljourney, a journey which opened up so many new aspects of culture and in-betweenness to me and kept providing me withbig “Aha-Moments” and eye-opening experiences. I am feeling like a child that explores its surroundings; I pay great attention to all things in my everyday life and I cherish those ordinary items and customs often seen as outdated. Throughthis journey I find memories, emotions, connections and passions. The more I start to know an item the more I want to know about it!
This will be a long-term, sustainable project for me. And to keep discovering new items for this project, I would like to invite you to write down the things that you consider a "Swiss Icon".
Email: info@xuying.ch
Ausschnitt, Detailansicht
Selected Detail
瑞士图标
始于日常
我们的生活是由无数个朴素而平淡的日常组成的，而就在这些无声的日常里藏匿着很多值得被发现的，美丽的日常。 它可以是一件物品、一段音乐；一幅图像、一个角落；一个场景，又或是一个模糊的记忆。
我们经常说，艺术家具备一种能力，发现的能力。她们以艺术的，视觉的方式把我们生活中天天接触和体验的事物展示出来，让“无视”变得“可视”。
“瑞士图标”系列作品就是一个这样的日常和温暖记忆的集合。它的原点起于我儿时的经历，一个几乎每个人都熟知的儿时的游戏——看图说话，从牙牙学语的宝宝，到学校的语文课本，从亲子游戏到书店里琳琅满目的汉字记忆卡片，它无声无息的存在于我们的成长过程中，也成为我们对儿时温暖回忆的一部分。其实这个经历不仅仅停留在中国人的记忆中，Image Cards[英语], Bildkarten[德语]， 它以不同的形式在各个文化中存在着。
7年前的举家迁居瑞士，将我重新置入了一个陌生的环境，那时候，就像每一个初到他国的新人一样，周围的很多事物于我看来都非常新奇，自然也想知道它的由来，而能够生活在瑞士，使我比一般意义上的游客有更多的时间来了解这个新环境、感受它的人文。( 瑞士资讯报道）我不断的进行着日常的观察，在阅读、与朋友交谈和旅行中积累着那些对我而言新鲜又很‘瑞士’的点，如：阿尔卑斯山号，辫子面包，木牛，芝士火锅。可以说从来到瑞士的第一天直到现在，我的日常生活都离不开对新奇点的解疑，也离不开语言的互译，无论是与丈夫谈论文化风俗，还是与孩子们的日常沟通；无论是与闺蜜好友聊天聊地，还是与街坊邻里分享烹饪心得···语言互译、理解中的共识与误解、辩论与再认识成了我的家常便饭， 既丰富着我对瑞士的认知，也促使我对艺术的表现方式进行新的挖掘，正是这些令人兴奋的“啊哈！”瞬间，使我逐渐形成了我的表达方式，与我其他的绘画系列不同，“瑞士图标”没有深奥的题材，没有情绪化的色彩，更没有让人震撼的体量，它有的是质朴的叙事，怀旧的色彩，精炼却也精准的表达，就如同瑞士和瑞士精神给我的感受一样。
本系列更是以一种充满了童趣的方式，引领人们去关注那些原本就存在于我们身边的事物，并且提供给观者一个视觉与思维交集的平台，使每位观者都可以在与艺术作品互动的同时建立起自己与作品的独特关系，在这一刻，我（作者）隐退，你（观者）成为作品中不可或缺的一部分：图像、文字、语言、色彩、含义、声音……你们通过观看、阅读、质疑和自我投射来体验和探讨不同文化和语言之间的关系， 这是一个无法替代的感性的还原，这种个人化的经历带给你们惊喜，而你们的惊喜成为我开启未知的力量。
这将是一个可持续的项目，在此我真诚的邀请您的参与，写下您自己心目中的“瑞士图标”并发送电子邮件至 info@xuying.ch
Swiss Alphorn, 2014
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm SOLD
Swiss Wooden Cow, 2013
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm SOLD
Grittbänz, 2016
Gouache,Acryl auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm SOLD
Appenzeller Käse, 2015
Gouache,Acryl auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Appenzeller Bier, 2015
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 24 x 33cm SOLD
Falken Bier, 2016
Goauche, Acryl auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Sammlung Brauerei Falken
Rhine Falls, 2013, Gouache, Acryl auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Sammlung Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen
Mohrenbrunnen, 2013,
Gouache,Acryl auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Sammlung Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen
Munot, 2013, Gouache,Acryl auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Sammlung Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen
Fraumünster Zürich, 2016
Aquarell,Goauche auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Grossmünster Zürich, 2016
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
St. Peter Zürich, 2016
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Kantonsschule Rychenberg Winterthur 2016, Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Auftragsarbeit für Kantonsschule Rychenberg, Winterthur Schweiz
Commissioned work for Kantonsschule Rychenberg ,Winterthur Switzerland
Tiger-Finkli, 2017
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm SOLD
Schulthek 2017
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Globi 2018
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Appenzeller Haube, 2017
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Berner Haube 2017
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21x 29.7 cm
St. Galler Haube 2017
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Silvesterchlaus-Schöne 2018
Aquarell, Guache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Silvesterchlaus-Schöwüeschte 2018
Aquarell, Guache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Silvesterchlaus-Wüeschte, 2018
Aquarell, Guache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm
Rivela 2018
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Appenzeller Bier 2019
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 24 x 33cm
Tirggel 2018,Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7cm
Luxemburgerli 2017,Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier
21 x 29.7cm
Ovomaltine 2018,Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier
21 x 29.7cm
Toblerone 2017,Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier
21 x 29.7cm
Blechspielzeug-Henne 2015
Aquarell, Gouache auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm SOLD
Blechspielzeug-Elster 2015
Gouache, Acryl auf Papier, 21 x 29.7 cm