Artists Wang Yahui
Venue TKG+, Taipei
“A Slant of Light” is a play on a verse in The Deer Range by Wang Wei. A poet and a painter, Wang Wei was praised by Song Dynasty literary giant Su Shi, who regarded Wang’s work as “painting within poetry, poetry within painting.” The portrayal in Wang Wei’s poetry runs parallel to the composition of a painting, where emotions interweave with landscapes in varying shades. His writing conjures microcosmic changes in scenery that not only reflect the macrocosmic whole, but leave room for imagination. His use of contrast creates dramatic scenarios, while his depiction of dynamic scenes brings poetic imagery to life. Wang Wei interpreted what he perceived through the medium of text (or image composition). A process that resonates with Wang Yahui’s art practice, which seeks poetry within the visual language.
Wang Yahui tests the boundary of visual perception by delving into concepts of empty and solid, inside and outside, the elasticity of time, and the field of vision, later on incorporating elements of memory and life experience. On view at Wang’s solo exhibition are a photography series, two video installations, a kinetic installation, and one sculpture, where the artist tracks the trajectory of movement in a space in the form of minimalist graphics, eliminating real-life scenarios and past experiences. Lines and squares of ink occupy a labyrinthine space where imagery of ink transports viewers to an unreachable land in prolonged time, every minute change a narrative about procreation, recurrence, and demise. Each photographic work is a space of its own, while the subtle movement of the kinetic installation and the moving image of the video works percolate an energy of life, rippling in the seemingly quiet space. The element of time becomes less relevant in Wang’s new body of work, where the element of space is instead accentuated and magnified. Reconfiguring the concept of space, Wang invites viewers to reconsider its fluid, impalpable nature,as they become immersed in where they are and riveted by what they see.
