JIAJIA WANG

Jiajia Wang's paintings are in constant motion, teeming with colour and marks that swell and wane across the canvas. Familiar with traditional Chinese line painting from a young age, Wang has an exceptional understanding of compositional balance and the importance of flow within a painting. Though this connection is important to the artist, the works could be seen as more of an ode to this tradition than a steadfast approach - Wang is not afraid to break the rules. Where traditional painting might offer the viewer a moment of reprieve, the artist appears to amplify chaos as even stationary objects have an undercurrent of movement.

The feeling of a forest can turn instantly, as changes in light and weather can shift a tranquil moment to an uneasy one. Wang's tree trunks appear to sway slightly in the breeze as the surrounding painting is overcome with frantic energy. The light of a London winter is reflected in these works, bright but cold landscapes shift across the canvas and a singular light source is cast across many of the paintings. In Golden, 2023, the sun bears down on the forest, cutting through branches until the sunset colours and the foliage become inseparable. Language becomes a meditative process within the paintings, the work's title, ‘Golden’, can be found throughout; curling into the trees, flowing through the water and casting its yellowish glow against the canvas. Fixating on a word for each piece, Wang embeds it within the painting until its calligraphic motion becomes yet another mark made within the painting.