Sweet Dream

Bio:

Jingyi Wang (Chinese, b. 1989) is a New York based visual artist specializes in oil painting. She received her BFA degree from China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2013, received her MFA degree from New York Academy of Art in 2016. Her works had been widely exhibited at Art New York, Sotheby’s New York, the Metropolitan Pavilion, SFA advisory, Portraits Inc., Panepinto Galleries, X gallery etc. Her art works are published at art magazines such as ArtMaze Mag, Creativepaper magazine, Studio Visit magazine, Planet China. Her works were reported by Major Medias such as China Daily, The China Press, World Journal, Artron Net and she had a personal interview by New York Loungue in 2019, She was awarded for an artist residency at the Terra Foundation of American Art in Giverny, France. Wang’s solo exhibition "The Growing" was opened at the Amerasia Bank Gallery in New York in 2017. Solo exhibition “My loneliness Is a Garden” was opened at Art lines Gallery in 2018. Solo exhibition “Soft Sting” was opened at Times Arts Gallery in New York in 2019. Online solo exhibition “Natural Social Distancing” was opened at Four you Gallery in 2021.

Artist statement:

The past year, for many reasons, has forced us to confront our relationship with nature. This consideration has been within the context of a global pandemic during which the phrase ‘social distancing’ became normal and more painfully, familiar. Cacti have been the subjects of Jingyi Wang’s paintings for 5 years, yet with developing social changes and world health concerns at large, her artworks have taken on varying identities respectively.

Jingyi Wang looks for ‘hope in despair.’ Her spiky paintings, ironically, have a softness that pervades. The cactus, a metaphor for many things, resonates with Wang. She has employed cacti as motifs in her paintings since 2016: artist and subject have built a longstanding relationship that continues to evolve and surprise. Now, more than ever, the relationship between human and nature is at the forefront of one’s mind. Constant is the reminder that ‘respecting nature is respecting ourselves.’ The pandemic has only heightened this position of thought; our reliance upon nature and one’s own delicateness is clear.

Jingyi Wang is audacious in her process, and paints her hybrid cacti-human characters directly onto canvas using oil paint. Whilst the remarkable amalgam of cactus and human in her paintings draws ones eye with immediacy, the vision extends to dreamlike landscapes in indulgent pastel colours or nostalgic black and white. Nature is always the over-arching context of her artworks and plays a big part in her life.

Scenes of her homeland inspire, and desert vastness incites longing. Each portrait is rendered with sharp focus and pictorial realism despite the uncanny subjects. These are images we have seen before, yet now they are shrouded in the defensive spines of cacti. Intrigue and unease arise correspondingly. Do they cacti act as a concealing shell, or are they the subjects’ true identity? This series of paintings asks you to question what lies beneath visible surface. Ultimately, these paintings address the relationship between humans and nature. This is an association that has been at the forefront of Wang’s mind over the past year or so. The artist demonstrates the fragility of the world on a larger scale with an image of a balloon like globe deflated by the spine of the anthropomorphic cacti. Wang paints with such lightness and movement, the globe looks as if it is collapsing before one’s eyes. Although the subjects are striking main focuses, the expansive landscapes are radiant, otherworldly and seem to deny the possibility of human existence. Threatening but hopeful, Jingyi Wang’s paintings will provoke an awed respect for her skill, gracefulness and humbling attitude towards nature.

Solo exhibitions:

Apr 2021 Oct 2019 Jun 2018 Oct 2017

Natural Social Distancing, Four You Gallery online space, Dubai, UAE Soft Sting, Time Arts Gallery, New York, NY
My Loneliness Is A Garden, Art lines Gallery, Hackensack, NJ
The Growing, The Gallery of Amerasia Bank, New York, NY

Selected group exhibitions 

 2021

Scene 9+9- HER POWER Online Exhibition, Art Life Foundation, Hong Kong Ridiculous Sublime, SFA advisory, NY

Sumer Exhibition, Wilkinson Gallery，New York Academy of Art, NY

The Push, High Line Nine Gallery, NY
PARALLELS & PERIPHERIES，Wilkinson Gallery，New York Academy of Art, NY

Members Invitational juried exhibition，Equity Gallery, NY

2020

 Artists for Artists, Wilkinson Gallery，New York Academy of Art,NY

The Misfits, Mana Contemporary, NJ
Cadaf online contemporary and digital art fair, Mana Contemporary, NJ Sumer Exhibition Online, New York Academy of Art,NY