Shock Horror: QimmyShimmy and Her Sculptures
Sometimes art can be disgusting. When it comes to disturbing art, it is unsettling because it often combines things that shouldn’t be found in one form. On the other hand, art can be muddled if it’s just plain right down creepy or simply involves body parts. Society is getting more used to disturbing and gore imagery; one must wonder if it is even still possible to be shocked or disgusted.
In order to explore this, we have the opportunity to interview the Singaporean artist and designer, QimmyShimmy. In her surreal sculptural work, where she creates dumplings filled with miniature baby heads. she explores contrasting ideas and concepts such as beauty and grotesque.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Karen: Where does your artistic name “QimmyShimmy” come from?
Qi Xuan: My given name is Qi Xuan which, to many non-Mandarin speakers, is not exactly the easiest name to pronounce. I knew I needed a moniker that is easier to recall and remember but still keeps the most unique letter of my name (Q) which retains my Singaporean-Chinese identity.
Karen: How has being born and raised in Singapore influenced you?
Qi Xuan: People often say Singapore is a hub where “east meets west” and I would see myself as a creative shaped by such a society. Upon my graduation in the Netherlands, a tutor said my work is one that “represents the intersection of western ideas and eastern sensibilities” and though this applies more to my design practice, I’ve worn it as a badge of honor ever since.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Karen: I believe that art has the capacity of portraying beauty even in the grotesque and oddness. Can you share with us your own definition of beauty?
Qi Xuan: To me, beauty is not just a visual experience, but something that stimulates and pleasures the mind.
Karen: What role does food play in your work?
Qi Xuan: I like capturing the tension between the beautiful and the grotesque in my works. Food is an effective subject because of the ways advertising and the media have propagated it for centuries to appeal to our senses. Food has always been portrayed to be desirable and enticing, and being able to turn that familiarity into something else has always been central to my work.
Karen: Which is the meaning behind the baby faces?
Qi Xuan: My works have always been about finding the balance between sweetness and horror and, for me, these little baby heads help me achieve that odd tension. When we look at these little figures, they tend to make you feel protective of them, but you also feel a little repulsed because of the context in which they were placed.
Photos: Courtesy of the artist.
Karen: Your Instagram account has become your public art portfolio. What type of reactions have you received from the Instagram community?
Qi Xuan: Mixed reactions, really! Some people love it, some people hate it, and some people just don’t care. Instagram has connected me to galleries, collectors, and many like-minded individuals who eventually became my online friends. The downside would be using my works to spread conspiracies/fake news and all the hate comments that follow. But I believe when artists put their works out in the open, we need to embrace the fact that our art would be interpreted and understood in ways that we do not intend them to be. It is not in my right or control to change how people think.
Karen: What does your studio look like?
Qi Xuan: My bedroom currently functions as my studio—it is not the most conducive but it works! I am in the midst of a big move and will finally have a proper studio in my home, so I am looking forward to that very much.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Karen: You’ve mentioned that one of your favorite quotes by Elizabeth Gilbert is, “Don’t ever be ashamed of loving the strange things that make your weird little heart happy.” Can you tell us how you embrace your strangeness?
Qi Xuan: In Chinese, we have this saying “厚脸皮”, which directly translates to “a face being thick-skinned”— it refers to the trait of not being easily hurt by criticism. We all need that sometimes. I think the trick is to just do things without the fear of judgment. So long as you are not hurting anyone or anything in the process, the world would be better and richer with something a little different.
Karen: I know that you love fantasy. What does your perfect and utopian world look like?
Qi Xuan: I love fantasy as a genre, but I do not believe in perfection or the existence of a utopia. My work has always been about capturing dualities, and I believe the beauty of the world is not in capturing one version of an ideal, but in being at peace with all the complexities and messiness that make us human.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Karen: Since one of your inspirations is fantasy/science fiction, which is your favorite book in this genre?
Qi Xuan: It is incredibly hard picking a favorite, but the first book that got me into this genre would be Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I love the world-building aspects of high fantasy but always find myself drawn more to low-fantasy stories where the magical or unexpected intrudes on an otherwise-normal reality.
Karen: How does your editorial and branding work relate to your art?
Qi Xuan: I am not doing that much editorial and branding work today as I am working full-time as a UX designer, which is a lot more research- and strategy-based. I do not think my design practice relates to my art practice in any way, and I am quite happy to keep them separate. I feel that both practices exercise different aspects of my creativity, and I value them both equally.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.