“Starry Heavens， Moral Law” Show Opens

The theme of empathy and shared purpose is central to Xinyu’s solo exhibition. Her soft and voluminous figures are set within abstracted landscapes, questioning the place of humankind within a larger philosophical context. The soft and diffused colors suggest a gentle intuition, hinting at the sublime goal of extending consciousness into the realm of painting. The figures depicted in these works are rendered with soft pastels and permeable outlines, imbuing the artist’s work with a sense of ambiguous narration and timelessness. As seen in “Guardian of Humanity,” the horizontal figures of prone human bodies appear to grow plants from their centers, offering a moment of reflection on how we foster and nourish qualities within ourselves, and what lies beyond the realm of the physical that connects us to our bodies.

Xinyu reflects on the interrelationships between us as people while dividing the picture plane into orderly and harmonious regions. This careful delineation leads the viewer to digest her subject matter evenly, taking in the painting in careful parts to better comprehend the whole composition. The artist extends these scenes to encompass the sky, stretching upward into the firmament. Her paintings embrace soft gradients and rounded, organic curvilinear elements rising upward in the space of the picture plane. Xinyu reflects on the symmetries that connect us with the wider world – and universe – that we originate from. “When I look up at the stars, from a physical standpoint,” reflects Xinyu, “I don’t feel any different from them because we are all made up of the same elements.”