Interview by Jimon

1-How would you describe Yin Ming?  Silly in a smart way

2-What is your earliest childhood memory of making art?  I would get in trouble for drawing on the walls of my childhood home, behind doors right above the molding, in pencil and crayons.

3-Where do you currently live and create?  I currently live and work in Brooklyn, and paint in my studio at SVA. 

4-What did your path to becoming an artist look like?  I moved here to New York City in 2015 for school at Parsons the New School to study fine arts and psychology. I graduated with a BA and BFA in 2019. I started painting during the pandemic and now I’m back in school at SVA for an MFA in fine arts.

5-What influences you as an artist?  I love consuming any type of storytelling, so I watch a lot of films and anime and try to read a lot of books.I am also heavily influenced by the many conversations I have with friends and family.

6-How do you know when to stop work on a painting or is it constantly ongoing?  Since my work is iterative, it really is a constantly ongoing process. I tend to work on smaller pieces simultaneously with large paintings, so I don’t really have moments where I consciously decide a work is complete. There have also been times where I have gone back into a painting months after not touching it.

7-When you are not painting where would someone find you?  If I am not in the studio, I am usually either at home watching a movie or at work, a soap studio.

8-Is there any reality behind your paintings or are they completely from imagination?  When I first started painting ping pong, I would look at images of boxers and MMA fighters for body posture references. Now, I just paint from imagination except for when I paint the paddle holds. I have paddles and a mirror in my studio for when I need to paint hands.

9-You attend SVA in New York, how has this influenced your process?  It has been very helpful being at SVA and receiving feedback and reference points from peers and mentors. I think being in a space of intense productivity and constant general rhetorical exchange has pushed me toward a wider expanse in perspective and creation.

10-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  I don’t have a particular thing that generates inspiration, but I have an ongoing practice of looking for new music to listen to in daily life. I am usually listening to music while I paint and have a pretty wide range of musical genres that I enjoy. I love when friends and strangers suggest new musical artists for me to check out.

11-How much planning is involved in your paintings or are they purely spontaneous?  My painting process is usually spontaneous, with only a specific idea or visual effect that leads each painting. Sometimes, I might be interested in a specific point of view or a specific bodily posture. Other times, I am working impulsively purely from an intention of play.

12-What is your definition of success?  My definition of success is to make work that generates discussion and brings forward the potential for learning and connection. I love when my work leads to this.

13-If you could have one of your pieces at any museum in the world, where would it be?  Either the Smithsonian or the Pompidou.

14-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?  Ping pong paddle, music, studio pants

15-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  Cao Fei, Masaaki Yuasa, and Shinro Ohtake

16-How would someone find you on Social media?  @yinming_

17-Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:

Art= ping pong

Food= cake

Sports= ping pong

Politics= ping pong

Sex= ping pong

Luxury= art

Poor= art

Rich= art

God= art

Religion= art

Picasso= art

Afterlife= cake