How do American and Chinese approaches to fine art education differ?
While I was there, Chinese schools still followed the Soviet method of art education: basic training in drawing, painting, sculpting, all in European, Classical and realist styles. The system was very uniform and every student painted in a similar style and shared the same views on the art of painting. When I moved to America I pursued contemporary art, which was quite a new experience. Each student and each professor at the Massachusetts College of Art had his own ideas and his own favorite artists. Using each student’s favorite artists, our professors would guide us through the process of learning to paint. This personalized method opened intellectual and artistic doors for me. Your early work spanned the spectrum of subject matter from still life to figurative to formal portraiture. What motivates you now to paint Native Americans and the American West? After graduating I returned to my realist roots, painting primarily illustrations, figurative work and formal commissions in order
