Art Melbourne 2012 - Melbourne's Affordable Art Fair

Added 8 months ago

Masters of Paper

Interview with Will & Caro

Carolyn Wong and William Du are Will & Caro. A talented duo that are demanding international attention with exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Canada, and Miami. Working with delicate washi Japanese paper, Will & Caro create stunning art pieces that tell a story and inspire purity of mind.  In an era where technology is king, these delicate works with paper are examples of a dying art form and a more simplistic time. Maree Miller has a quick chat with the pair who made their exhibition debut during our very own Art Melbourne and have not looked back.

 

Heart & Soul, mixed media, 1080 x 770mm, $4,600
"The mechanics of the human body works like a well oiled machine, but is nothing without soul."

 

Let’s rewind to the beginning, how did the two of you meet?

Will and I met in high school.  Actually Will was my brother's good mate and I must say first impressions weren't everything because we didn't quite get along at first. Our personalities were so different and we had different opinions about almost everything. Fast forward a few years and we're working together everyday and now perhaps it is our differences that give our artwork a certain balance and edge.

 

Carolyn, we know that your father was in the fashion and tailoring industry when you were a little girl. How have his creations influenced your work?

My father worked as a tailor in Hong Kong a very long time ago and since I was very small we had all our garments tailored properly so that they fitted beautifully.  The art world was a difficult industry, and whilst I loved drawing and the arts I was encouraged to hit the books and head into a more scholastic career.  So it was interesting because I was both inspired by my father's artistic talents yet I didn't really explore art until recent years.

 

There is a strong sense of geometry and order in your work, where does this come from?

I (Carolyn) am the one who pertains more to geometry and order whilst Will likes the free flowing and random/ abstract designs.  This probably reflects a little on our personal characters as well as I am more organised and like to jot checklists etc down and Will is a more "go with the flow" kinda guy!

Life As We Know It, mixed media, 650 x 650mm, $2,600
"The beauty of people surrounding us and making who we are."

There is a definite contemporary design quality in the work, who is responsible for this?

Whilst Will and I both like many different mediums and styles of art, we both like the simplicity and modern look (without looking cold and sterile) of our pieces.  Will studied product design for a little so perhaps that had some influence as well. 

 

Aside from the washi paper, how has Japanese culture influenced your work?

Japanese culture is very Zen and simplistic which definitely resonates in our work.  In this overly complicated world it’s nice to be able to just sit back and escape through beautiful art.  Japanese and Chinese cultures also overlap in many ways and even share the same literary characters (Kanji).  I practised origami since I was very small and grew up with experimenting different arts and craft.

Also our pieces have a strong sense of meaning and story within each piece which was reinforced in Japanese and Chinese culture through folk tails told by our parents.

 

Do you consider your work sculpture?

We sort of see our work as a medium of its own.  We actually find it sometimes difficult to describe our works so we usually just say a mix of paper artworks and sculpture or mixed media.

 

While there are common themes and a shared medium across your work, they all seem to have a unique and individual aesthetic. Why do you think this is?

It's interesting the broad spectrum of uses paper can achieve.  We use papers sourced from all over the world and they vary in texture and thickness.  A single design can give a completely different feeling by just using different papers, it's actually the most difficult part and most rewarding when you bring different papers together and form an amazing piece of artwork.   

Natures Flow, mixed media, 1080 x 770mm, $4,800
"The constant movement and progression of nature."

Patience & Purity, mixed media, 880 x 640mm, $4,200 each
"The gradual changes and bettering of oneself."

 

 

exhibiting AT Stand D8 at Art Melbourne 2012.

 

www.willandcaro.com

 

Posted by Art Melbourne at 3:17 pm 1 Comments