Io: How do you like working with the canvas instead of Aluminum?
The new works are definitely more figurative in comparison to your past works, do you see your work continuing in this direction for the future?
Ruben Pang: There's different kinds of freedom and limitations in both canvas and aluminum for sure. On aluminum i can be very much more involved in the layers and strokes, in a sense very calligraphic, which is the opposite of the artists that traditionally used aluminun-the flemish were more contained when they painted on copper/metal,hard wood. On canvas i have a sense of space, even though its also a white empty surface when i begin, i can create space much faster on canvas and so the pictures come out in a way that i compare more to the narratives in film,The surface of canvas is also more absorbent, so i can play with textures or washes that i cannot on aluminum, so in this sense i'm having a great time with both surfaces. And it becomes clearer to me over time, what painting subject is best on canvas, and others for aluminum!
