today's an interview with paul wu, (whom i've personally dubbed) the multitasker. at twenty-years-old-going-on-twenty-one, paul's already fashion interned at tim coppens and tse, while majoring in risd's most popular and well-developed industrial design program and simultaneously taking apparel design courses. paul's been a long-time friend of mine, back since my junior (his senior) year of high school (we even went to prom together!), and being present as well as absent during his artistic growth over the years has continuously impressed me. his ability to grow and move cohesively with whatever situation he's in allows his ambition to not be far-fetched at all, in fact, i see paul making big waves in the future rather than just going with the flow.
vivian: how would you describe yourself?
paul: earthy, idealistic, visionaire, buddhist
v: what's caught your interest most recently?
p: recently, the power of tumblr and social media. there are little celebrities popping up everywhere. it seems like it is a lot about the It this, It that. what is endurance and longevity? how does one stay relevant in 5 years— 20 years? at the same time, i’m making small discoveries day-by-day on tumblr of small, tightly curated sites that possess incredible vision and imagery. otherwise, a lot of them begin to blend together after a while.
v: what do you see yourself consistently going back to in your art?
p: i have been consistently going to the nature lab (natural history collection of preserved animals and plants) to do renderings. i’ve found myself in the zone drawing animals— especially the deer, the elk, and the moose. i find them comforting to render because of a certain resemblance of their expressions to that of humans.
v: could you describe a bit of your artistic growth/transformation that has brought you to this point?
p: it has been natural for me to do fashion drawings, but only recently have i become more interested in rendering still life. fashion illustration is natural to me, because it stems from a desire to create novel expressions on the female form. it comes from imagination as well as an interest in what is going on in the fashion world. i think i have grown as both an illustrator of fashion and still-life renderer. i have come to find that rendering still-life is not simply a means of recording reality, but also an extension of its meaning.
v: what was that moment for you, when you knew you were going to pursue art as a career?
p: i knew I wanted to be involved in fashion since middle school. [after i graduate from risd, i'm] planning to attend graduate school for fashion design in antwerp or london.
v: how do you feel about yourself as an artist?
p: i think the whole idea of being an artist is weird for me. i don’t want that attached to me at the moment.
a full collection of paul's work can be seen at his own website.
don't forget to follow him on his tumblr, too!
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