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This is not just an interview with a great contemporary sculptor who creates amazing ceramic art objects. This is an interview with much more meaning. It is a personal story of a long journey of self-discovery and self-determination, from which everyone can learn something important for themselves.
Meet Johnson Tsang, a sculptor from Hong Kong who pushes the boundaries of our imagination and amazes us with his surreal fantasies in masterful works. This self-taught artist has a special divine gift to transform the most complex themes and emotions into beauty that can be touched.
We decided to keep this interview in two parts, because we want you to discover Johnson Tsang as an incredibly interesting artist with a wise soul.
What prompted you to choose sculpture as an expressive tool?
I liked observing everything around me since I was a little kid. To me, the world was so beautiful. I was curious about everything around me, especially the amazing Mother Nature. Then I started drawing them as much as I could. An old wooden clock, a chair, a chicken, a turtle, flowers and trees. I wanted to draw everything in sight. I had a passion that told me not to stop. A few years later, people said I was very good at it. However, I wasn’t satisfied with 2D expression because according to my observation, everything I saw was in 3D. I couldn’t find a way to interpret the beauty of a sense of reality even though I drew so real, so well. Then, like other kids, I started playing with modelling clay. I could create anything I liked in small sizes. I just loved it. I think if we keep doing what we love, no matter how crazy we are or if it seems like a dream, one day we’ll get there and make it happen. So, here I am.
What path led you to sculpture?
After I graduated from high school, I was 18 years old. Since I got a bad grade on my final exam. With that score, I couldn’t go on to school or go to any institute to study art. I knew I had to get a job to earn a living and help my family financially. I said to myself: “Maybe I can get a job related to design or art.” So I did. But it didn’t go the way I thought it would. I understood what qualifications meant. But at least I tried. Then I worked in several factories. I was a candle molder, a wool fabric ironing worker, a potato frying worker, a warehouse loader, and an air conditioning maintenance apprentice. (air conditioner technician?!) Then I joked to myself, “My ideal job is to work in an air-conditioned room.” My path was so unclear. Then my mother asked me, “Why don’t you go to the police?” I was 21 years old when I joined the police force. It was another important step that changed my view of people and our society.
Tell me, how did that experience influence your artistic expression?
Did you feel a conflict within yourself between such diametrically opposed spheres as police work and being an artist?
When I was young, I didn’t think of myself as an artist and never thought of becoming one. I just couldn’t stop making art. I treated it as a hobby. So I didn’t feel any conflict. Many police officers have their hobbies after work. However, things went differently when my passion for arts grew rapidly later on. Things went differently when later my passion for art skyrocketed.
Some inner voice told me that I had at least one more choice to go on living with more joy.
Do you regret that it took you so long to come to your dream profession?
After leaving the police force, I enjoyed the fact that I had found my path, even if it wasn’t easy. I thought I’d wasted 13 years on the police force instead of making art. However, when I look back at some of my work, I realize that police service played an important role in my awareness of who I am.
What did the police work give you?
How did you decide to make such a brave act to change your life so radically?
An inner voice tells me the direction of my path. I realized that I don’t need courage to do this. It just happened. What I had to do was to make a choice. When I left the police force, I didn’t do creative work full time. To survive, I was teaching ceramics. All these years later, I’m very grateful that I made that decision.
Your main subject is the human being - why has it become dominant in your work? Who are these people who inspire you?
I don’t put any limits on my artistic style. I just express my feelings. I believe that human faces and their expressions give me a lot of freedom to speak my words and to translate my imagination into reality.
When I have an idea in my head for which I need a certain facial expression. I just pick faces from the Internet at random. These are the only references I need. When I create a face, I don’t need to make it as real as the original face. All I need is a good feeling in it.
Of all your works, can you single out the most special one for you and explain why?
What is your inspiration?
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