Roy Wang is a pioneering light-painting artist whose work uniquely blends elements of Chinese culture with pop culture iconography and calligraphy. Influenced by notable artists such as LichtFaktor, Frodo DKL, and Darren Pearson, Wang has crafted a distinctive style of freehand light drawing on a grand scale. His innovative technique relies on spatial awareness, muscle memory, and imagination, using darkness as his canvas and light as his paintbrush to create visually stunning and one-of-a-kind images captured on camera.
In 2023, Wang broke his own Guinness World Record for the most people light drawing simultaneously, showcasing his ability to engage and inspire large audiences while pushing the boundaries of his art form. Through his work, Wang aims to offer others a glimpse into his unique perspective on the world, inviting viewers to experience the interplay of tradition and modernity in a new light. We interviewed Roy Wang to delve into his experimental photography, exploring his expression through light and his deep passion for this captivating art form.
What initially inspired you to pursue light painting as an art form?
In 2009, after graduating from China Agricultural University, I went to Tokyo and started my life as a professional rugby player. While working and living in Japan, I fell in love with photography. In 2010, by chance, I saw Picasso on the Internet in LIFE magazine. After publishing a set of light painting works, I became deeply fascinated by this art form. I bought a small LED lamp at a convenience store that night and began to study light painting photography and creation. What I like most about light painting art is that I can’t see the creative process. I can only see the entire work after closing the shutter at the end. This kind of creation gives me an infinite sense of anticipation and expectation, much like a piece after piece. Every time I create a journey, the content is different and the results are different. They are all unique works and creative experiences that cannot be replicated.
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Can you describe your creative process when planning and executing a light painting piece?
Light painting art is still in a very small niche. It comes from photography, but it gradually breaks away from photography and is more inclined to painting. For me, light painting art belongs to the art form of painting. Painting without seeing the process is so challenging. It requires constant technical practice to perfectly draw the pattern in your mind, and it requires the perfect coordination of spatial memory and muscle memory to create excellent works. For light painting, shooting is actually not difficult. The difficulty lies in creativity and completing your ideal work into a work. Every time I create, I draw some effects I want to present on my notebook. This is very important, because simple graphics can be drawn directly without any sketch, but complex graphics need to be prepared in advance.
Usually I will look for some suitable scenes to draw the light painting I designed, set up the tripod, set up the camera, press the shutter, and walk in front of the camera. The entire dark environment is my Canvas, and I can do whatever I want Wave the light source in your hand to draw. At the beginning of creation, it was not that easy to achieve the desired light painting work. It required dozens or hundreds of repeated exercises. But now, perhaps due to long-term practice and the improvement of spatial memory and muscle memory, Practice makes perfect, increasing the success rate of every creation.
How can art collectors purchase your art piece and display it?
They usually purchase works from the galleries I work with. The works can be produced by inkjet printing for display (limited edition). Of course, in some new media art exhibitions, we will display the works directly on a projection or screen.
Mythological creatures – Qingluan. Tianjin, China, 2020
Can you share a memorable story of overcoming a particular challenge during one of your projects?
In 2012, I started to incorporate Chinese elements into my works, and it was not that easy at first. I remember the first time I drew a Chinese dragon. It took me nearly half a year from the attempt to the final drawing. I explored the overall shape and characteristics of the dragon. Drawing techniques until practice makes perfect, spatial memory and muscle memory become habitual exercises. The most unforgettable experience for me is in 2020. This creation is unforgettable and extremely challenging for me. At that time, I was invited to participate in an out-of-town shooting event and went to Qinghai, an area with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters, to create. The equipment we used was a unified mobile phone. This was a mobile phone brand cooperation project. I remember that we went to the creation location around 2 a.m., and the charming Milky Way and starry sky looked particularly beautiful against the backdrop of the salt lake. This was my first time creating in such an environment, and the light painting function of that mobile phone could only be used for the longest time.
Make a 32 second exposure, so I tried it many times, Repeatedly, I used light to draw Giant Kun, one of the mythical beasts from the Chinese Book of Mountains and Seas, in front of the camera. In such an ethereal and pure environment, there is nothing more suitable than painting such content. The distance to the left and right of Giant Kun is about 5-6 meters across. I finally completed this work after many exercises within a limited time of 32 seconds. This challenge was first to create it for the first time in an environment of 4000 meters above sea level. Secondly, It is the time limit for creating and painting. I usually shoot with a long exposure at B door, and I have at least about 2 minutes to draw complex graphics. Although the picture quality is not high, I like this kind of work so much. It was such a creation that led me to start the “Light Painting Mythical Creatures” project, which exceeded 300 million exposures within one week of its release in 2021. It was also this creation that allowed me to make a breakthrough and be able to draw more complex works out of thin air.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges young and emerging artists are facing nowadays?
How to stick to your own direction or creative method is very important. For me, I have experienced too much when I transformed from a professional rugby player to a light painting artist. For a professional rugby player who has no choice but to give up due to injury（2012 Neck Injured）, I feel deeply The process of loving rugby is too difficult, and it was this experience that allowed me to see the art of light painting gradually light up in my heart every dark night during my physical recovery, which helped me get out of the darkest time in my life. , light painting is of great significance to me. It is not only artistic creation, but through it I have found my new direction. For young artists, everyone’s situation is different, and you know your own situation best, so in the final analysis, you have to find Follow your own direction and stick to your own work style, and I believe you will be rewarded, but don’t rush for success. There is an old Chinese saying that gold will shine wherever it goes, so stick to your own creative direction, wait for opportunities, and then seize them.
Arabic Flowers. Al Seef, Dubai, UAE, 2023
What projects or collaborations are you excited about?
I have always been interested in challenging projects. For example, in 2021 we worked with Nissan to modify cars into light sources to draw the Guinness World Record’s largest light painting pattern of 2021 square meters. In 2022, we modified traditional Chinese dragon boats into light sources in the river. Elegant light painting, in 2024, I moved from the largest light painting creation moment to the miniature watchmaking process. In cooperation with JLC, I created the smallest work in the history of my personal light painting creation. I often tell everyone that my most satisfying works are at the back, because there are so many hopeful and imaginative contents in light painting art, just like a set of Olympic-themed light paintings I just created with the Chinese Women’s National Rugby Team. The work, while cheering for the Chinese women’s national team, was also improved during this shooting. Various dragon and phoenix forms were painted out of thin air in a short period of time. This was a leap in my creative experience.
Mythological Creatures – Dragon & Pheonix in Temple of Heaven
How do you balance artistic expression and clients expectations when it’s a commercial project?
First of all, when a client comes to you for a commercial project, it proves that they recognize your art form. For cooperation, from the perspective of an artist, you need to think for the client and rationally think about how to develop in the art field that you are good at. , to better empower the brand, or what you can bring to the brand after cooperation. As for light painting art, our commercial projects in China have been very rich in recent years, and the cooperative brands range from Audi/BMW/ Nissan/GAC International/well-known real estate/recent luxury goods JLC, etc., we will conduct very rich preliminary discussions on creation, and use hand-drawn or schematic diagrams to explain to customers the content and reasons of the upcoming creation.
Egor Sharay Light painting Artwork
Just like our 2021 Guinness challenge, we used Nissan’s car body as a light source to replace some people in painting. It mainly reflects the acceleration performance and handling performance. In the picture, it is like painting with the wrist, which is an outstanding performance for the handling. JLC also gave me a great challenge this time. As I usually create large-scale light paintings, I tried to use some miniature light sources and device modifications to achieve this collaboration, which meant that I needed to practice again to challenge the vacuum. When painting in a reduced screen, in addition to the original light source that needs to be reduced, the canvas that I am good at also needs to be reduced through practice before I can draw the designed content, and I have also improved myself through each cooperation. , and found more possibilities for light painting art, which I am very happy about, because light painting is a relatively new art form and it has more breakthrough possibilities, so I am also looking forward to seeing it in various cooperations. A new breakthrough in light painting art. Of course, we also have many difficulties that arise and are solved during creation. This is also a good point for both parties to cooperate. Create and grow together. When the works are displayed, they will be recognized. This is the best result.
3 Guinness World Records
How do you see the art form of light painting evolving in the future?
Regarding the development of light painting art in China, I have been exposed to light painting art since 2010. In 2013, I retired due to injury and returned to China to develop light painting. I have seen that the development situation in China is getting better and better in recent years. In 2012, I launched light painting art content that combines Chinese style, which has received good reviews and popularity. Therefore, I will continue to create Chinese landscape light painting art content, and will also use culture and art as the creative direction for the next stage of expansion. , for example, I obtained a 10-year golden artist visa from the UAE government in 2023. I am grateful to the UAE government for recognizing my achievements in art. This is also what attracts me to Arab culture. I also hope to combine Arabic calligraphy/Arab culture through light painting. We have conducted in-depth research and creation of totems and other content. I also look forward to more co-creation content and brand cooperation. In the first half of this year, the JLC exhibition showed the charm of light painting art to Dubai. Together with GAC International, we created a people-vehicle co-operation on the D3 skyline. The cool content that combines Arabic calligraphy and Chinese dragon totems. Again, light painting art will bring me more expectations. This is the gene of this art form, because every time The results of exposure and painting in front of the camera are all different and unique.
Light painting Olympics with China Women’s Rugby team
How do you engage with the local community when you are working on a project? How do you think your light paintings impact the communities where you create them?
I think it is very important to join forces with the local community. I remember when I was creating in Xi’an in 2023, it was a real estate commercial project. I created a phoenix in my “Light Painting Mythical Creatures” series under a large square, and my team There were only 6 people, so we conducted online recruitment two months before the creation. Unexpectedly, students from the local Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts were very eager to participate, and invited me to the academy to introduce the converted Workshop course. It is this kind of linkage, Let every student participate. At that time, 100 students participated in our creation. After the project ended, these students continued to create light paintings in their free time. This creation in Dubai D3 was completed by our team. Of course, I am looking forward to the next project creation. We can join more local people in Dubai to participate in the co-creation, so that every participant can feel the charm of light painting art.
What role do you think public art plays in the cultural life of a city?
Just like the way I create, I freely wave the light source in the city to paint, combine traditional architecture/modern architecture, a combination with strong visual impact. This is the creative method that represents the times and is a new product. Also witnessing the development of cities, light painting art uses light directly to draw virtual content in real scenes. Three-dimensional space creation plus the factor of long exposure, entering a new four-dimensional space creation, what an interesting way. It is this kind of spatial creation that allows tradition and modernity to have a dialogue across the air. Just like the light painting mythical creature series I started in 2020, I draw mythical creatures from traditional Chinese mythological stories in modern cities. We often say this is Innovative artistic expression of traditional culture. Culture needs to be passed on. With the times, the way of traditional inheritance is changing, and new ways and communication techniques are used to create, which is the way and the result of advancing with the times. So I think Public art plays in the cultural life of City is very important and must have cultural characteristics.
Egor Sharay, Journalist, Cultural analyst, Art consultant
Interview conducted by Egor Sharay
Egor Sharay is a prominent figure in media, known for his dynamic role as an editor and cultural analyst. Through his articles and analyses, Egor Sharay provides valuable commentary that helps shape public understanding and appreciation of the modern culture.
