Introduction

Xiao Wenjie (b. 1982, Hong Kong) studied at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute from 2002 to 2005. He currently lives and works in Beijing.

Since 2022, the artist's practice has evolved to incorporate lines and forms, diverging from the earlier approach of exclusively layering blocks of colour. This evolution has culminated in the emergence of the visual motif of 'Lump'. Upon initial encounter with the 'Lump' series, viewers frequently perceive a sense of visual ambiguity. This ambiguity does not stem from the delicate, almost illusory interplay of soft brushstrokes, but rather from the precarious equilibrium achieved after media of differing properties have repeatedly contended with one another on the canvas.

For Xiao Wenjie, the “lump” is not a predetermined subject of depiction, but rather a fundamental way of perceiving things. The form of the “lump” gradually reveals its trajectory through the repeated layering and adjustment of pigments and painting tools; the viewer's gaze drifts along the highlights generated by different colors. Amidst this continuous wandering of attention, the image materializes, synchronizing with the artist's process of labor. The formation of the “lump” defers the inertia of defining things through language, allowing sensations to linger in a primal realm before they are translated into words.