VLAB is pleased to present the solo exhibition titled “TIME TUNNEL” featuring new works by JINGYI WANG that have never been shown before in an exhibition. The exhibition features a series of works that revolve around the theme of a time tunnel, presenting the characters from childhood to adulthood, as if rolling the clock back to the 90s.

Jingyi Wang (Chinese, b. 1989) is a New York-based visual artist who specializes in oil painting. Her artworks focus on the relationship between nature and culture. Observation and perception are the inspiration for her artistic creation. She associates the fragile with the acute, the serious with the humorous tones, the poignant with the longing. cacti-human beings reflect the biological and psychological aspects of life, approaching the subtle and intimate intersubjectivity of humanity. With these elements and colors, Jingyi Wang would like to extend human bodies to the ground and mother nature, creating space for dialogue and collaboration among humans and nature.

The artist's works focus on the relationship between nature and culture. Cacti symbolize her own feelings and attitude towards life, for her they mean a state of helplessness and nervous emotions.

The characters depicted as cacti are usually her close friends and family, expressing their independent personalities through the characteristics of cacti. By becoming subjects of her creations, she also brings them into her cactus paradise. Indeed, cacti are at once the representation of solitude and strength, but also of both relaxation and softness under the artist's brushstroke. 

The painting Time Travel depicts a scene in which time travels back to the year 1994, featuring three generations: her grandmother, her mother and herself, each one with her characteristic hairstyle. The backdrop is a gray wall, representing the memory of her hometown. On the wall there’s a calendar with a scene from 2024, showing the "Cactus-Manhattan skyline." Wang expresses in this painting the nostalgia she feels when she thinks of her family and how much she wishes she could travel through the time tunnel to feel a warm hug from her family.

In the exhibition there are also some works that are inspired by everyday life. For example, WeChat Video Call is inspired by the interactions between her and her mother. "This painting captures the moment when we engage in a video call. Through the small screen, my mother and I virtually explore various places in the world together”, states the artist.

The work Hide is inspired by the children's game of hide and seek. The balloons symbolize the beauty of childhood. They hide in the cactus without hurting each other. “I want to express their contradictory and coexisting relationship, as well as the beautiful longing for childhood innocence” says Wang. The work Into the red sunset represents a vision of what the future would be like if cacti were not alone and together walked into the red sunset.

Sunshine after storm depicts a cactus portrait on a Polaroid. As it is often remarked, the sun always appears after the wind and rain, but the wind and rain can come back and the sun can be false. This painting shows Wang's positive and negative attitude towards life.

The "Childhood" portrait series represents memories of different periods, which are each characterized by unique fashion styles. Beginning with the 1960s, inspired by her mother's era, and moving into the 2000s, she has designed various cactus characters to represent the changes in fashion and trends over time.

The artist wants this exhibition to show the positive side of the small amusing moments of life and to make the viewer get away from the bad news that we constantly receive. But she also wants at the same time to express the powerful stories of the women around her, especially the Asian woman who curls her hair with the prickly pears on her head.

Jingyi Wang’s exhibition will run from January 16th through February 16th, 2024.