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My art, my life

After studying sculpture in the United States and returning to Macao, Alice Lee, a ceramic artist, has settled in Macao for nearly 15 years.

"I need about six hours a day to focus on my work," said Alice. "I don't have much income when I devote myself to art creation, and I only teach some art classes occasionally."

Alice grew up in a big family with many brothers and sisters who were interested in art. However, she didn't receive much systematic art education in her childhood. She didn't find her passion for sculpture until she went to the University of Houston and got to know about fine art in different fields. Then she studied sculpture for a master's degree in fine art in this university. "My advice to young people in Macao who are interested in learning art is: study art abroad. There are not only better educational resources abroad, but also great competitions and exhibitions to help you become famous. "

However, after graduation, she chose to return to Macao. The streets and buildings in Macao are all her inspiration for creation. But in fact, she gradually found that Macao is not very suitable for artists. "In Macao, I have a limited number of colleagues, and most of them are amateurs. I still need to go through the Internet or travel overseas to get art materials."

Alice has made a bold attempt to transform her business into a daily ceramic work, so that visitors can buy her work after an exhibition. "Macao people are very rich, but few people are willing to collect art." In the corner, Alice's delicate "cloud" themed utensils are covered with dust. During the interview, Alice was making a small coffee cup. "In my family, most of my utensils are made by myself."

"Nowadays the pace of life is too fast. Few people are willing to spend much time appreciating ceramics that need to be glazed and fired," said Alice. "Young people prefer 'quick success' and take only one or two workshops where they can finish products immediately. But in the world of ceramics, it is difficult to have 'quick success' because it takes a certain time and you need to wait."

"For artists who are eager for good development and income, I recommend them to choose mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or foreign countries to have more opportunities," Alice suggested. "To be a full-time artist is not easy. If you don't have to worry about your financial situation, you may have a try, but there are still a lot of other stuffs you need to worry about."

Zou Yue：Naive ideal? Mature ideal?

After performing "The Swan Goose" at the Shenzhen TV station at the age of 10, she already had experience of dancing for six years. At that time, she was full of ambition and believed that she would have a bright life of stretching her arms and legs on the stage. Yue is 12 years old now and holds a totally different attitude towards her "art life".

Mastering different kinds of dances, like ballet, folk dance and Jazz, Yue started her dancing life when she was 4. After a series of funny lessons in the kindergarten, she fell in love with dancing immediately and began to receive professional training in dancing up to now.

"I enjoy the process of dancing, but I hate the process of basic exercises. It is painful to me, very painful," Yue was recalling her memory. When she was in primary school, almost no holidays she could escape from the dancing training. The cultural center in the city was the most familiar palace to her: she needed to arrive at the training room at 8 in the morning and the learning of the dance itself after two hours of basic exercises.

Despite the hard work she put in basic exercises, her tutor still told her that her physical qualifications were relatively weaker for being a dancer. "Sometimes I am quite envious of those classmates who have soft ligaments, which were determined at birth. I have rigid ligaments, so I need to put more effort in basic exercises to supplement my natural weakness." Under this pressure, she still thought that all the sweat and pain from basic exercises were worth it.

However, after entering junior high school, Yue's passion for dancing seems to be diluted by the pressure of reality, rather than her physical qualifications. A direct influence on her dancing life was the academic pressure from her school. "Now I only have free time to practice dancing at weekends," Yue said, adding that she has also received intangible pressure from teachers at school. They tend to insert some "scary" comments into their teaching content: "You will have spare time in the future, don't use them now." "If you don't study well, you can't earn your living and you will not have a good future."

Apart from the school, her parents put stress on her too, by connecting her dancing with some elements in reality. Her father is considering to use her dancing skill as an advantage to help her apply for a "rhythmic gymnastics" special admission in university entry in the future. "The physic requirement of rhythmic gymnastics is indeed similar to folk dance; I can learn it," Yue said. "But I don't like it...I just enjoy the feeling of dancing and performing to the audience." Yue's mother doesn't think she gives burden to her daughter, but she also doesn't understand that dancing is more than a "function" to her little girl.

Although Yue still keeps a high passion for dancing, Yue's current dream has shifted from "becoming a dancer" to "becoming a teacher". The reason is that she can use the time of winter and summer holidays to travel around the world, which is impossible for her at present, with the burden of learning and parents' high expectation.

Ranen Nagrampa：Balance with life? Compromise on life?

Ranen is a Filipino security officer in Chao Kuang Piu College (CKPC), University of Macau. Most time of day, he is an ordinary officer. However, when inspiration strikes, he becomes an artist who has infinite ideas. The wall painting which portrays an astronaut sitting on a purple planet with a cup of coffee in the "Infinite Café" in CKPC is famous among students in UM, According to its painter Ranen, art is still a reserved garden in his mind to express his thoughts about life.

Painting was his passion since he was a kid. He said that his artistic genes might be inherited from his grandfather who was an artist. He chose to study fine art when he entered the university. Unluckily, this degree didn't help him in a job market.

He first worked as a builder in an electronic company and then changed to different jobs. Only when he went to the United Arab Emirates to work as a floral artist, he was able to get in touch with a job that was related to what he loves. Unfortunately, this job only lasted for a year as the salary was too low. Later, he managed to come to UM to work, which provided him with a stable income.

He is satisfied with his job in UM for another important reason - painting. He considers himself find a well balance between art and work, rather than being an artist with a low income. Apart from doing artworks in the college, he also assists in college painting courses. "It's interesting because this is my first time to assist young students with painting. I encourage them to make it a habit although they should focus more on academic study." Ranen believed that painting can make them happy, or just relax for a while from a busy life.

Spiritual art is faced with realistic problems, at every stage of life. For Alice, she gradually takes it easy with her art ambition. Yue is still fighting against the pressure of artistic performance and school study, while Ranen chooses to return to reality temporarily. Though the role of art changes, it still strikes a strong resonance in their hearts. Keeping idealism and striving in life with the pursuit may be the constant mission of art.