Certain art works are able to take us to another place and time and allow us to forget about everything but the image we are looking at. They can pull us in and make us dream of something we have never expected or even fathomed. The illustrations of Andrea Wan take you to this unknown place deep within her subconscious. They allow us to contemplate what is really so important about all of the trivial anxieties of our everyday lives. Even with commissions she takes on that are confined to a particular topic, she is able to instill a piece of herself into the work that gives it a feeling of blissfulness. It is Andrea’s ability to take us out of our everyday life and into a place of subconscious euphoria that makes her work so pleasing.—Ronnie Wrest/The Citrus Report

Give us a brief background. Where are you from? What is your favorite food?

I was originally born in Hong Kong. I moved to Vancouver with my family when I was young. My favorite food is the homemade dishes that my mom makes.

You stayed in Europe for a while. How was that experience?

I traveled and studied in Europe for about 8 months and spent a lot of time exploring foreign cities alone and meeting awesome people. During my stay in Denmark I was really inspired by Scandinavian design and fashion. After hibernating through that long lonely Winter in the small Danish town, Kolding, I developed my current illustrative style magically. That 8 months felt like 3 years to me in terms of the amount of experience I gained.

Tell us a little bit about your process. Do you have ideas planed or are you more spontaneous?

I’m very spontaneous in terms of coming up with ideas. The execution could sometimes be a longer process though. Instead of doing lots of sketches, I like making last minute decisions while working on the final artwork. I find that less pre-planning helps me to stay excited about whatever I’m working on. If everything is planned out perfectly before I draw, it’d make me feel like I worked on the same drawing twice.

I really like the piece you did for NUVO recently. Do you enjoy taking on subjects you wouldn’t normally draw?

Thank you! That was an illustration for article about a goalkeeper’s last hockey game. Taking on unfamiliar subjects is part of the fun of illustration. I enjoy researching on a new subject matter and come up with my own unique interpretation for them.

Do you work with other mediums outside of illustrating?

I used to work with film and animation, but I have been more focused on drawing in the recent years and haven’t had a chance to go back to film making yet. However I would love to collaborate with animators on projects.

What kinds of things inspire you?

I am inspired by random things around me my inspirations changes from time to time. Since I was young I’ve always been interested in dreams and the subconscious. My dreams are very strange and vivid and often involves the exploration of a space or landscape with characters playing multiple roles. In the morning I would write them down and try to figure out how certain things reflects my waking life. I’m not sure if that influences my art directly, but my drawing process is somewhat similar. Whenever I come up with whimsical ideas, I’d draw them down and analyze what they might mean….. as if I’m constantly playing guessing games with myself.

Any goals or plans? what does five years from now look like?

I’m pretty uncertain about what I will be doing and where I will be in five years! but a solo show is slowly in the works and I hope to make it happen some time this or next year.

What are you working on right now? Anything coming up we should know about?

Right now I’m working on a few small illustration commissions and a series of drawings. I’m part of The Letter Collector from march 5th to 27th at Gallery Hijinks in San Francisco. With artwork from over 50 artists, it should be a fun show!

http://andreawan.com/

Andrea Wan / Part of The Letter Collector / Gallery Hijinks / San Francisco / Opens March 5, 2011

From The Citrus Report

Posted By The Citrus Report