SASPONELLA - A Chinese Illusion
The Chinese artist Sasponella talks to GATA about their source of inspiration for their drawings and make-up. Using their faces as canvas and as a form of meditation to escape from the outer world, they are mostly influenced by Chinese culture, demons, and many things more. They tell us the reasons why they need art to conform with the rest of the universe.
GATA: Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself. Where are you from, what are you doing?
Sasponella: I am from Atlanta, GA. Both of my parents immigrated from China. I just finished undergrad at NYU, though my major is a bit difficult to describe because it's individualized. It revolves around Asian/Asian American studies specifically Orientalism and its intersection in tech, fashion, and the arts.
GATA: How long have you been drawing?
Sasponella: I've been taking drawing seriously since I was around 15 maybe? So let's say 5 years.
GATA: What inspired you to start drawing?
Sasponella: I started drawing more because as a child, I had bouts of intense emotions that I couldn't handle properly. I would become so wrapped up in different kinds of feelings that it would physically hurt me, but I didn't have any medium for meditation and stress release except for drawing. I couldn't stand being so engulfed by hatred for these emotions; that kind of rage made my head ache and my heart hurt. So, I would draw to get rid of it. It's a grounding process really, and I felt that this was the best (and only working way) for me to release a lot of pent up anger and pain in a nonviolent and productive way.
“When I cover myself in eyeliner, only the eyeliner and the style can be recognized. So that when people see my face, they don’t really see it, but rather the work (the makeup). This is the control that I want, this is how I can escape while still being there”
GATA: For your social media, we can see how you slowly started to show yourself more and more to the world by using your face as a canvas for your artworks. How did this happen? When was the moment you started to experiment in that direction and why?
Sasponella: Growing up in a Chinese household, and even growing up in a fatphobic America, I had so many concerns and insecurities with my face and body. I'm not thin at all. My chest is large, and my legs are large and muscular. I was not something held as an object of beauty. I felt uncomfortable with my bare face, so much so that somewhere along the line I learned to unrecognize it when I look in the mirror. At 17, I moved to New York for college, and I had this moment of personal growth and took the initiative to figure out who I am. Living without your family does bring about some change. I had to force myself to realize that I am a real person, who is looked at and digested by other eyes no matter what I did. That's when my makeup really changed. I've written an essay on this before, but to shorten those sentiments, basically my face as it is has become something as simple and plain as the fiber that is woven into string. When I do my makeup and skincare, the process of it all aligns with the process of spinning fiber into thread, spinning thread into cloth, and then cloth into whatever I want to be. In this way, I give myself agency, and I give myself control over the perception of my face. When I cover myself in eyeliner, really only the eyeliner and the style can be recognized. So much so that when people see my face, they don't really see it, but rather the work (the makeup). This is the control that I want, this is how I can escape while still being there.
GATA: When you paint your face, what inspires you?
Sasponella: The focuses of my face makeup and eyeliner is almost completely based off ancient Chinese art culture and magic. The art motifs and themes I tend to base the work off are animals and landscapes, like dragons, snakes, plum trees, clouds etc. Sometimes, I also base it off Chinese mythology, like the demons that reside in DiYu, or the Chinese equivalent of hell. In terms of Chinese magic, I have a very strong interest in Taoism, specifically the usage of the divination book , the Yi Jing, and Taoist talismans.
GATA: What do you use to paint your face?
Sasponella: I use eyeliner and water based face paint! My favorite eyeliner is from Brian Beauty, and the face paint brand I use is Mehron.
GATA: We could say some of your illustrations are a little bit dark, is your art associated with sadness or similar feelings?
Sasponella: Definitely! Sadness, anger, hatred, and grief are some of my biggest forms of inspiration because they need the most emotional release, which I have said is done through my work.
GATA: Who is your biggest inspiration?
Sasponella: This may seem a bit random, but my biggest inspiration is actually the fashion designer Guo Pei. She's Chinese like me, but more importantly, her work is on a completely different level from anyone else in the entire world. Her dresses, her embroidery and bead work create such beautiful things, and I find myself day dreaming that in another life, I would be in China begging her for an apprenticeship. I want to make things just as detailed, just as fantastic, just as mesmerizing.
GATA: What does social media mean to you and your art? Do you think that it is helping you to improve your art?
Sasponella: This sounds a bit negative or too clinical so I apologize in advance. Social media is the standard method of dispersal and information reception for me. I post my art so others can see, then I profit from the social capital. It makes me happy if others like it or if they can relate, but for the most part, I treat it as a catalog of my work that I can also profit on via commission and print orders or other opportunities. If anything this is the truth of many social media accounts, especially if they are linked to someone's work. However, social media does indeed improve my art! I follow predominantly artists that I perceive as better than me. One of my flaws, is that I really hate not being at a standard that I feel like I should be. And every year, my standards for myself only become stricter. I feel so many anger at myself for not being as good as I want to be, for not being good as someone I follow that it forces me to practice so that in time I will be able to say that I can do the same as others, that I am on par with others.
“The focuses of my face makeup and eyeliner is almost completely based off ancient Chinese art culture and magic. The art motifs and themes I tend to base the work off are animals and landscapes, like dragons, snakes, plum trees, clouds etc. Sometimes, I also base it off Chinese mythology, like the demons that reside in DiYu, or the Chinese equivalent of hell”
GATA: Do you find any pros and cons about social media?
Sasponella: Pros: Social media is an excellent way to connect with others and distribute your work to the masses if you can catch and control the algorithms that make things popular. I've made so many friends off social media and I love them so much. They are my world, my life. Social media also provides an excellent form to find work, to boost ideas, quickly crowdsource data/alerts, and crowdfund different people and projects that could never had been able to get off the ground without the support of others, especially if there are no grants available or existing.
Cons: Many social media algorithms still promote unhealthy, fatphobic, racist, and colorist standards of beauty. Not only this, but social media when left unchecked becomes a breeding ground for racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and other regressive ideals that fester until they become extremely detrimental to the lives of others that are marginalized and or oppressed. Social media can provide the foundation for echo chamber like situations, that feed the egos of those who are not good people. Other times, the people who run the social media companies are upholders of violent rhetoric or unhealthy/impossible standards that deteriorate the mental health of others.
“I would draw to get rid of it. It’s a grounding process really, and I felt that this was the best (and only working way) for me to release a lot of pent up anger and pain in a nonviolent and productive way”
GATA: Can you tell us your 3 favorite movies?
Sasponella: My three favorite movies: Perfect Blue (directed by Satoshi Kon), What We Do in the Shadows (Directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement), and Tale of Two Sisters (Directed by Kim Jee-Woon)