Jane Fielder, Shanghai Odyssey – The Odyssey
Jane Fielder
Odyssey Statement
24 – 27 April 2015
EIGHT ART HOTEL Shanghai
I knew Shanghai would be special from people’s reactions when I mentioned my three week adventure back at home in England, in the small Yorkshire mill town where I work as an artist and run my own gallery, but nothing prepared me for the feast that was about to bombard my senses as the plane approached the airport just two weeks ago.
My main goal was firstly to GET to Shanghai, then paint and maybe even organise a show there, all within three weeks. I like a challenge. With much help from many people I have done it. There are 16 finished paintings on show, all but three painted in Shanghai.
A never ending black worm with legs, snaked its way across the sea, into infinity, as the plane approached Pudong. As we descended, I realised this was some kind of roadway with cars moving along it. It was the first of the sights that I will never forget of my three week odyssey to Shanghai.
From that moment on I decided to keep a visual diary of all the treats that I was about to encounter. To jot down notes at the end of each of the 21 days and draw very spontaneous images of the highlights. I started off well, but then the “show” took over! There are just four of the completed ‘diary’ pieces in the show but ….back to the beginning of my adventure.
About a year ago, one of my friends, Sue Vickerman, poet, novelist and artist’s model, had burst into the life room in great excitement, declaring she was going to Shanghai for a year, “You’ll have to come Jane. You could paint, you’d love it.” the seed was planted. I dreamt of painting, artist’s exchanges, exhibiting….
Out to the blue, in February I got an email “Can you come now, we come back in July?” My mind was made up, how could I miss the chance of a lifetime opportunity. “We may even be able to get you a show, it’s like that in China – things just happen”
I found a flat, booked a flight and here we were approaching Pudong with “worm”, the first of the amazing sights.
Each day I went out, improvised portfolio in hand and drew around the city, returning to our flat at night, to convert the meagre sketches to paintings.
Space, not making a mess (in our pristine apartment), limited materials and time were restricting factors. Usually I work large and free, to be confined to the smaller pieces of paper, the biggest we could get in our suitcases, was challenging. I soon burst onto some huge pieces of found cardboard and was away. This exhibition is the result of what followed.
I will never forget the amazing sights, sounds and smells of this remarkable city, but without a doubt, the memory that will remain with me forever is the kindness, consideration, friendliness, respect and ”can do” attitude of the amazing people we have met in Shanghai.
Thank you so much to everyone who has made this experience so special, and to EIGHT ART HOTEL for this wonderful exhibition.
我是一个艺术家，在英国北部约克郡的一个小镇上经营着我自己的美术馆。当我开始向家乡的人讲述我来上海三周的探险计划时，他们的反应上我觉得上海一定会是一个特别的地方。当两周前飞机降落在浦东机场时我才领略到上海轰炸我感官的大餐。
我的计划中主要目标是先到上海，然后画画然后可以的话在这里于三周内组织一个展览。我喜欢挑战。通过很多人的帮助我如愿以偿。现在有16件完成的作品展出，除了三件外，其他的全部都是在上海完成的。
当飞机靠近浦东机场时，一条似乎没有尽头的黑色带着脚的蚯蚓跨过海面蜿蜒入永恒。当我们降落时，我意识到这原来是一条挤满汽车的路，这是我上海三周如奥德赛般的旅途中从未忘记过的景象。
从那时起，我就决定要将上海将要让我遇见的一切以视觉日记的让时记录下来，21天里，每天我都会将那天的亮点画下来并在西方做些摘记。开始的以后很顺利，然后这个“展览”占据我一切时间！所以这次只有4副“日记”被展出但是回到我探险之初。
大概一年前，我的朋友Sue Vickerman, 一个诗人，作家和艺术人体模特，兴奋地冲进人体写生室，向我们宣布了她将要去上海居住一年地消息。“你一定要来，你可以画画，我肯定会喜欢的。” 种子就这样被埋下了。我渴望画画，艺术家交换，展览…
突然间，在二月份，我收到一封邮件；“你现在可以来吗？我们要在7月份回去了。” 然后我下定了决心！ 我怎么能够错过这个人生难得的机会呢？ “我们也许可以让你开个展，在中国就是这样的－事情在冥冥中就发生了！”
我找到了住所，定了机票然后我们就这样靠近浦东机场了，看见了“蚯蚓” 我们所见的第一个让人惊叹的景观。
每天我都带着画本出门，满城市地画，晚上回到家将速写加深成绘画。
空间，不能弄得乱七八糟的（在我们干净的租来的房子里），有限的材料和时间都是客观上的限制。我习惯在很大的空间里自由地创作，所以被局限于这个，我们能塞进旅行箱里最大尺寸的一小块画纸上，是个挑战。所以很快我就从街边找来了大的纸板在上面创作。这个展览就是成果。
我永远也不会忘记这让人难忘的城市里惊人的景观，声音和气味。可毋庸置疑这城市让我永远记忆犹新的我们在上海遇到的人们的善良，关心，友好，尊重和“可以”的处事风格。感谢所有让这次经历如此特别的人也感谢Gallery 8 让我的展览梦想成真。
Translation: Yi Chen