Interview | BOBOBOOM Founder: From Design Director to Independent Artist

BOBOBOOM Handcrafted Studio is a new emerging art brand that was born in 2020. Its founder, Bobo, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and was a senior interior designer. Her love and persistence for art made her step out of the traditional design path and choose to pick up the brush again, using painting and handcrafting as a way to find and heal herself. It is this spirit of exploring and pursuing self-expression that has allowed BOBOBOOM to come into being.

BOBOBOOM is a brand full of fashion and youthful vitality, with unique designs and vibrant bold colors that evoke strong sensory and emotional impact.

Today, ISSANYI had an artistic dialogue with Bobo and invited everyone to experience it together.

After graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, you worked in the design industry for ten years. What was the reason or opportunity that made you choose to pick up the brush again?

 I used to work as a design director in a well-known interior design firm in China. I worked for only this company for ten years and had a deep emotional attachment to it. When I made up my mind to quit, it was because at that time, my work made me feel miserable, such as endless overtime and meetings.Actually, the ultimate reason was the disappointment with the Chinese real estate bubble and the anxiety of being in a collapsing industry. After quitting, I rested at home for a while and started painting and doing handcrafts. My idea was very simple - I wanted to free myself from negative emotions and love myself and life more.

Painting and doing handcrafts are the processes of relaxing myself and healing exhaustion.

Your current creations include several series such as makeup, emotions, and bows. Where do you usually get your inspiration from?

Inspiration always comes suddenly. I don't demand myself to create something specific. This used to be my biggest pain when working - being squeezed like an efficient machine to create value. So now I am a bit willful. I want to start from my heart, just like the sprouting of seeds, waiting for them to grow out by themselves.

Even though I have a small brand to run, I still believe that the creations that can touch people's hearts are the flashes in my mind, not the result of racking my brains to think. Because people who like them can feel that little spark in the creation, which is the soul that can bring joy and surprise to people.

Irregular boundaries and melting shapes often appear in your works. What is the meaning behind these elements?

When I first started creating these very casual and melting shapes, it was actually subconscious. It was a shaping of my mood and state at that time, a little melancholy and a little relaxed.

Actually, describing it in words is more abstract than seeing the work. It's probably a kind of freedom and relaxation after the hard outer shell fades away. It's a chaotic feeling that needs to be reshaped, but its power is very harmonious and not fragmented or conflicting.

I have received higher education in design, where every graphic must have a reason for its existence, and every curve can be traced back to its origin and curvature. Design can operate solely on rationality, but art is the beautiful moment of randomness and loss of control. Their existence is valuable and meaningful. I didn't want to break through any barriers. Perhaps blending them together is more suitable for me.

So I love the feeling of melting too much, just like I set my goal to be "a designer with artistic aesthetics."

How do you think we should find the connection between the overseas market and the Chinese market? Are there any barriers, and how do you deal with them?

There are certainly barriers, but art itself exists to break down barriers. It is a form of expression that transcends language and can be universally understood by humanity.

The way to deal with it...is to believe in the power of art itself.

 Do you adjust or innovate your work based on the demands or trends of the overseas market? As an art creator, how do you balance your artistic style with market demand?

As an art creator, I must first insist on being myself. As a designer, I must consider the market and audience acceptance and psychological needs. But for me, this is not conflicting. Creation itself cannot be unchanging. We all have to move forward and try more possibilities to inspire more sparks of inspiration.

 

Currently, various BOBOBOOM products are available for purchase on ISSANYI official website. You can find the BOBOBOOM brand section on the navigation bar above, or click on the product image to directly access the corresponding product.