Artist Interviews 2022

Norris Yim  
By Julia Siedenburg



Norris Yim is an exceptional artist that I have been following for a little while now. His pieces are a mix between realistic portraits and abstract art. His pieces are full of color and life and simply beautiful. Some of his paintings show familiar faces from popular movie characters and other iconic artists. I am very happy that Norris agreed to be part of this issue.

So dear reader, please read the article with the soon to be very famous artist below.



Who are your biggest influences from the art world overall and what influenced your current style of painting?



The Violence Painting style with Heavy Colour Texture is the way for me to represent my emotions, inspired by the one of the most important Abstract Expressionism Painter - Willem de Kooning who creating with spectacular confidence and freely making the brushes strokes on paintings. Bring my artwork having without turning back in thick colour layer up.




How do you choose your subjects?



Portrait is the key to represent the concept what I thought about the society. Using the abstract portraits explained the pain of human, sadness of city releasing personal emotions.

In order to ingratiate the capitalism & hypocritical living, people burying their original appearance to survive, and new faces replace the old ones, even using the heavy makeup becomes a new self-forgetting self, with hypocrisy and fear of life. It has spawned a series of abstract portraits that express the pity and sadness of society.




Some of your pieces portray known movie characters from Batman, Star Wars to Dune. Are these loved movie franchises of yours or did you choose them because of their recognizable characteristics? Are there any more movie characters coming in the future?

Created some of the iconic characters because these films have grown up with me since I was a child and have far-reaching influence. I would keep creating the icons in the world with my style to salute the legacy they made, not only the movie icon, music & art world also are the main to looking at, like Bowie & Hide (X Japan)




Which piece is your favorite and why?



Davie Bowie in Digital or Oil style is my favorite one as his legacy is inspired me a lot, and I have using the most unique style to represent him in respect. And it’s recording the hard time of the world when it started to facing the virus, it’s like the pill to heal the soul. It’s an honour to know many people in the world loving it. It’s like a big step of my art career.




Your work is very unique as it is a combination of precise portrait work combined with abstract features. How did you discover your painting style?



At first, abstraction is the only way for me to express my emotions. I feel pain after the city changed, the Sadness & Pain are on our face, and the scars would never aged, then I want to create the heavy texture on the face like scars and pressure in the colourful way to represent the Hope & Healing, showing the ambiguous relationship between the emotions of Hope & Pain.




Tell us about your process from the idea to the finished piece. Is there a certain mood you have to be in to paint? Is there a ritual you do that brings you into the zone?



At first stage in 2019, I would do the painting in zone and using the less brushes strokes to form the painting. More I made, more layers, texture & special elements to fulfil my thoughts. I always creating with the Music or Cantonese Movie, which let me relax my mind to get in the zone more easily. The best mood for my painting is the Sadness & Pain. I could express the best I can but I still not fully expressed as I would destroyed anything near by me, actually I would love to see what is the result after that expression. It maybe the future art style in pure abstraction.




Tell us a little bit about your background and upbringing. Where did you grow up? Was art always a part of your life from early on? How did you discover your love for painting?



Graduated from School of Design (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
Looking for the skill to heal my Soul & Patient, I drawing in the semester -break during the University life, keep practicing everyday, after that I have pick up the love of the painting since I was 5. I draw every where, like the white wall in my home, the tables & books in school. Only drawing could make me Focus and Forget Pain.

Then, It just born to love making something with any possible material during the childhood, become an artist is not my focus point, as I always indulge my own world with my passion - keep creating as I can. Painting is the main perspective right now to express the emotion.
And Looking for what is “Me” or “Self” in Art form.




In your own opinion, how influential is art in the world?



Hope the world more Love & Inspiration from Art. Art is the way to bring some seeds and inspiration to cultivate a better world in future. Spreading love to surroundings (people & nature) as long as people got a bit inspiration or happiness from my artworks, that is the mission as an artist during this moment.




NFTs are a big part of the art world now. How was it expansion for you? Is it a positive or negative way of showcasing and selling art?



NFT is an opportunity for the one who willing to join the without any art qualification behind. It just like everyone can be the YouTuber now, the mind explosion is beyond the imagination.
That’s so good as everyone can be the Receiver and Exporter
It’s actually make the world much more creative in other way.
The market of NFT must same as Stock in future.

Positive: New experience and platform to show the artworks. And I can learn much more idea from the NFTs, also I could explore the new way to sale my artworks.
Negative: The style is turning too similar, which one is famous, that style would be like the bees pressing out in swarms. The monopolistic would be set as the art style becoming mono and bored. The cost is the main obstacles for me as the gas fee is quite high when you uploading the artwork, and it is hard to know the detail about the gas fee without the hints from professional.




What is next for you? Any shows or events planned in the near future?



Looking for the 3D creating, like sculpture of the Nameless. I would love to explore these in future, using the digital or clay to continue the nameless series.
Then, I have a group exhibition in Hong Kong in March, however the COVID-19 spread out recently, everything need to be delayed open.
Planning using the nameless series into the other perspective to show personal feelings to the world. The draft is already made, which will be available in early May.