Born in 1957 in China, Cai Guo-Qiang has worked with a range of mediums including performance art, video, installation and drawing. During the late 80's and early 90's; living in Japan he began to explore the uses of gunpowder in his drawings which in turn lead to him experimenting with explosives on a bigger scale. As a result of this came his signature explosion events. Guo-Qiang's work aims to connect the viewers to the universe around them and make them see more of the bigger picture and allow an approach to history and culture.
In Guo-Qiang's 'Gunpowder Drawings' he uses gunpowder and then sets it alight onto canvas paper to create his charred drawings. The use of gunpowder is meant to represent the 'destruction' of his 'timid personality', and so is a personal link with him self as an artists and his materials he uses in his work.
I like how the material that he has used is personal to himself as an artist and it is just not randomly selected, the process of destructing the paper on canvas represents the destruction of the artist's personality and traits that he no longer wants. I like the link and the message behind his drawings along with the way he has carried out the process.
I think that this is one of my favorite artists because of the difference it has among the other drawings, he has used a material that isn't seen to be a drawing material and so he has taken something different and made it into a drawing tool and into a personal and meaningful process.
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