In her second comic book Kjøkken (Kitchen) published by Jippi Comics, Xueting Yang conjured us a parallel universe where a prefecture in Central China merged with a municipality in Eastern Norway. Like being a stranger at home or walking in someone else’s dreams, reading through the seven short stories, you’ll encounter some most outlandish happenings within almost mundane contexts. Xueting didn’t achieve this effect on the readers with many words (quite the contrary, indeed), but rather, with the details in the linework, the unconventional but nostalgic colour choice, the unexpected focuses of the images, and the atmosphere created by all mentioned above. No wonder the book won Xueting another award in The Most Beautiful Book of the Year competition in Noway, and this time, it’s Gold.
Here is the Jury’s comment on the book:
If a book could be clammy and smell of lemon, it would be this one. This is a tacit and observant book. Drawings are “frozen” in the middle of a motion, in a loaded situation, where we can guess that things happened both before and after. Drawings colour the movements, just as a photograph does. Image trimming, composition, and colour choice support the atmosphere that balances a thin line between the unpleasant and the beautiful. The jury was enchanted by the book’s sensitivity, colour choice, and unpleasantness. This is a book that smells like a freshly peeled orange.
In the exhibition, you’ll be able to see the original linework of the artist as well as her drawings presented on materials other than paper. And we also hope to bring you some other sensory experiences that you might receive synesthesically while reading the book.
