Wu Ruijie, University of Wisconsin-Madison, instructed by Tang Ying

Walking down State Street in the warm sunshine, I visited the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art this afternoon. There were three main art exhibitions: Young at Art, Mirror and Image and Eye Deal. The most impressive one for me was Mirror and Image, which attracted me so much that I walked around the exhibition for two hours!

In the beginning, I thought the artwork was just like what its name implies: normal portrait drawings and paintings made by looking in a mirror. However, after enjoying all of them, I think the mirror is actually is the heart of the artist. They watch themselves in this “mirror,” and they read themselves like a long story: What they look like, what they have experienced and how it has shaped them.

After introspection, they used their pencils, brushes and cameras to represent their identities and expose their true selves. And just like the introduction of the art show said, throughout history, the portrait has remained a means for engagement with others and for the memorialization of the self.

Meanwhile, they also show the combination of their great techniques and unique ideas. For example, in the portrait of John Wilde, “The Sons of the Worse than Bitches Have Put A Hole in My Head,” the artist drew a man whose eyes are full of skinny red streaks of blood and his head has a big hole in it, through which we can see the internal neural network, and one of his hands is holding the end of a neuron. From this, I could feel his struggle trying to resist being influenced by the chaotic world and attempting to rid it from his mind.

One of the most interesting parts is that the museum put paper cards and color pencils on the table for the visitors to leave their own artwork. This is so meaningful because most visitors, including myself, have their own understandings and ideas after seeing so many powerful creations, so they can express and represent their valuable ideas immediately after. I also created my own picture, inspired by a work of Les Klug, where he was watching himself pick up a post in the mirror.

This kind of artwork is called “artist as subject.” Thus, I drew a girl, myself, looking in a mirror, and in the mirror, the same girl is smoking. By drawing this, I wanted to express the struggle of self-control.

This exhibition also reminded me of Vincent Van Gogh’s self portrait. I remember that when I saw it at the Chicago Art Museum, I was captivated by the emotion in his eyes. I saw the loneliness, struggle and helplessness around the fact that no one could understand him.

However, I also saw determination, hopefulness and resistance, showing that he was trying so hard to improve himself. And what shocked me the most was that he used these expressions to look at himself! When you stare at yourself in the mirror, the image of you is also looking back at yourself.