Recently, an emerging artist Shen Cai made her debut in Australia with her solo exhibition 1n. The exhibition was co-organized by the Victoria Artists Society and HUAAO International Media, and it showcases recent works by the artist. Shen Cai has just graduated from the School of Design, Central Academy of Fine Arts, and she introduces us to a way of thinking and creativity of Chinese post-90s artists.
It is well known that the result of nth power to 1 is equal to 1, although it is essentially “always consistent” but this 1 is different from the original one. Just like her latest video multimedia creation, “Stay Alone Together”, Stay Alone and Together are a pair of antonyms, just like the two separate “selfs” in her body. They are different from each other but coexist in one body. They live without interference, but they are indispensable. In this work, the artist makes use of a space such as a mattress as her media, which is most often in contact with the human body, creates a space where two “egos” live together. Through the images, sounds, and simulation the different degrees of the body on the mattress, the two “egos” coexist, struggle, accommodate, and avoid each other in the body.
Another example is the series of “Astigmatism 700” that she brought to this exhibition. This is a project that has recently been in continual development. Each piece of the “Astigmatism 700” series is superimposed with five layers. The behavior of painting layer by layer is a process of accumulating time and space. The illusory visual experience suggests that the dimension of our time is thus compressed. On the contrary, our “existence” itself, is also the constant momentary overlapping of the changing movement. “Do we really exist in the scale of time?” Young artist, Shen Cai starts from the “self” represented by “1”, providing the audience with a more open proposition and more possibilities.
As Ms. Zou Bin, the cultural consul of the Chinese Embassy in Melbourne, said that there are 400,000 Chinese living in Melbourne, the demand for Chinese culture is endless. These solo exhibitions include new creations that have been explored from the ancient ink language and realized through contemporary transformation. What is more surprising is the future of Chinese art – the use of cross-cultural, cross-media thinking and new media language as presented by the new generation of young Chinese artists.
About the artist
Shen Cai
Born in December, 1996, in Jiangsu Province, China.
She now lives and studies in New York.
Education
September 2015–June 2019, China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing(abbr. CAFA), China;
August 2019–Now, Parsons School of Design at the New School, New York, U.S.A.
Selected Exhibitions
2019
1n, Solo Exhibition at Gallery of the Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne, Australia;
2019 CAFA Graduation Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China;
2018
The CAFA Graduation Design Panel Exhibition, at the Design Gallery, CAFA, Beijing, China;
“Diary” included in “CAI Young Artist Laboratory Project” in Edinburgh Art Fair, Edinburgh, U.K.;
Future Unknown Global Education Plan: Exhibition for Practical Stage, at the Design Gallery, CAFA, Beijing, China;
Annual Excellent Artworks Exhibition, at the Design Gallery, CAFA, Beijing, China;
2017
Group Exhibition 2117+, Gauguin Gallery, Beijing, China;
Annual Practical Artworks Exhibition, at the Design Gallery, CAFA, Beijing, China;
Courtesy of the artist and CAFA ART INFO
