Gene Gallery is pleased to present “Pretended Slumber”, a solo exhibition by Kenix Xiaoqing Liang, running from September 12, 2024, to October 28, 2024.
Following the 2023 duo exhibition “Old Fire, New Spring”, this exhibition marks the second time of Liang's work showcasing at Gene Gallery. Through her allegorical paintings, Liang reexamines the inter-species relationship among animals, flora, fauna in the natural world and human society, trying to think beyond humans by reflecting on living conditions of nonhuman creatures whose habitats are always under the impact of human activities, thus, to look for new kinds of possibilities for relating and understanding. The latest series on display continues the artist’s ongoing interest in nature and previous creative approach, but this time shifting the focus from the discussion of the ideas of "skin" and "boundaries" of nature to the imagination of mutual "gaze" exchanged between humans and other kinds of life forms. Even though the power embedded in the “gaze” is discrepant in different creatures; from a phenomenological thinking, the “gaze” as an experiential encounter opens the possibilities to attend the relations to that which lies beyond humans.
Embracing the nature of painting as a form of projection of intellectual activities of humans, Liang brings what is traditionally considered vulgar, subterranean, and “unbeautiful”, onto the canvas incorporating her own narrative style, and invite viewers to project themselves on these subjects, finding their own position in the scene. Stemming from her interest in the symbiotic relationships in nature, her new series imagines the fluidity between biological forms: the blending and transformation of living creatures and the role reversals and displacements within the natural food chain. Her imagery wanders between murky shallows, tangled branches, shattered leaves, and viscous underground spaces, where the scenes and entities are at times menacing, and at others, humorous. Through this flow, the stories depicted in the images break the constraints of scientific understanding, natural roles, and transitions between environments, offering viewers a unique sense of freedom.
The title “Pretended Slumber” refers to a temporary state of stillness, a state of vigilance and attunement to one's surroundings, rather than an avoidance of reality. The shifting perspectives, equal stance, and constant awareness of observation and being observed in Liang’s paintings echo Edouard Glissant’s concept of “Poetics of Relation”: “A potential, open, multilingual contact with every possibility… where all identities unfold in relation to the Other” (Glissant, 1990). This series of works fabricates a series of events, expanding the boundaries of narrative, and invites the audience into an unconventional, tangible experience of nature, creating space for personal association. Through this, it explores new possibilities of empathizing with the smaller entities in the world through a new lens of self-awareness.
Following the 2023 duo exhibition “Old Fire, New Spring”, this exhibition marks the second time of Liang's work showcasing at Gene Gallery. Through her allegorical paintings, Liang reexamines the inter-species relationship among animals, flora, fauna in the natural world and human society, trying to think beyond humans by reflecting on living conditions of nonhuman creatures whose habitats are always under the impact of human activities, thus, to look for new kinds of possibilities for relating and understanding. The latest series on display continues the artist’s ongoing interest in nature and previous creative approach, but this time shifting the focus from the discussion of the ideas of "skin" and "boundaries" of nature to the imagination of mutual "gaze" exchanged between humans and other kinds of life forms. Even though the power embedded in the “gaze” is discrepant in different creatures; from a phenomenological thinking, the “gaze” as an experiential encounter opens the possibilities to attend the relations to that which lies beyond humans.
Embracing the nature of painting as a form of projection of intellectual activities of humans, Liang brings what is traditionally considered vulgar, subterranean, and “unbeautiful”, onto the canvas incorporating her own narrative style, and invite viewers to project themselves on these subjects, finding their own position in the scene. Stemming from her interest in the symbiotic relationships in nature, her new series imagines the fluidity between biological forms: the blending and transformation of living creatures and the role reversals and displacements within the natural food chain. Her imagery wanders between murky shallows, tangled branches, shattered leaves, and viscous underground spaces, where the scenes and entities are at times menacing, and at others, humorous. Through this flow, the stories depicted in the images break the constraints of scientific understanding, natural roles, and transitions between environments, offering viewers a unique sense of freedom.
The title “Pretended Slumber” refers to a temporary state of stillness, a state of vigilance and attunement to one's surroundings, rather than an avoidance of reality. The shifting perspectives, equal stance, and constant awareness of observation and being observed in Liang’s paintings echo Edouard Glissant’s concept of “Poetics of Relation”: “A potential, open, multilingual contact with every possibility… where all identities unfold in relation to the Other” (Glissant, 1990). This series of works fabricates a series of events, expanding the boundaries of narrative, and invites the audience into an unconventional, tangible experience of nature, creating space for personal association. Through this, it explores new possibilities of empathizing with the smaller entities in the world through a new lens of self-awareness.
