Shenxiandong- Entrance

Title: Shenxiandong- Entrance (神仙洞-入口)

Medium: Printed on Fujiflex Crystal Archive C-type Printing

Dimension: W 170 x H 170 cm (Resizable)

Year: 2018

Inspiration:

Shenxiandongs (神仙洞) are places that are believed to be a gateway to the spirit world. These places usually have pitch black voids where you can see no end, this can be caves, fissures, pits, lagoons and waterfalls. Because these places are mysterious and believed to be linked to the spirit world they have provided fertile ground for the imagination, leading to myths and tall tales being told about these places.

This series of paintings is inspired in part by my intimate experiences from my trip to China in early 2018, and in part inspired by a documentary series “China: Between Clouds and Dreams“.

The five-part series tells intimate human stories, capturing China’s complicated relationship with nature and the environment as the country grapples with the reality of global warming and ecological collapse in its pursuit of an ambitious future. The film’s character-driven stories take us into the daily lives of people living on the banks of the Yellow river, from one end to the other. Each story is charming, charismatic and brutally hones. It shows ordinary people affected by climate change and industrialisation as China emerges as a global economic giant.

I would like to dedicate this series of paintings to little Wu, one of the documentary’s subjects, who suffered and died from an illness directly related to the polluted environment.