Xiaochi Dong, born in 1993, graduated from the Royal College of Art with a Master's Degree and now lives and works in London and Shanghai. Dong Xiaochi's practice is based on classical Chinese painting and explores the experimental logic of contemporary painting, resulting in works with visual characteristics that reconcile different aesthetic traditions. The artist draws inspiration from man-made landscapes at different scales - classical gardens, modern botanical gardens, and miniature eco-tanks - and explores different conceptualizations of the simulation, imitation, and compression of nature. Xiaochi Dong's work mainly involves paintings and composite graphic works. By creating images that suggest light, humidity, and atmosphere, the artist aims to give form to contemporary images of nature.
Nature is an important protagonist in the history of classical painting. As the source of visible things - from mountains to running water, from green fields to deserts - nature is often understood as a projection, possessing the significance of unveiling the nature of the world. In the face of this powerful tradition, the artist Xiaochi Dong aspires to discover in his paintings the face of "modern nature"-especially the diversity of emotions that result from the presence of plants arranged with a sense of solace. The starting point for Dong's work is the observation of a self-made artificial ecological tank, which provides a miniature ecological environment for domesticated reptiles. As the artist crafts the square habitats, the desire for curiosity and voyeurism gradually transforms into a curiosity about certain aesthetic concepts. The result of this initial impulse is the ink work Rainforest-secret (2018), created with mineral pigments and Chinese brushwork techniques. In this work, Xiaochi Dong views the greenery as slices of classical imagery and places them in a rational, regular, minimalist layout. At the time, the artist was perplexed by the contradiction between Chinese painting and scientific narratives. For the former depicts the humility and rituals of human beings in the midst of nature, while the latter, like the watcher and the watched, emphasizes the dangerous relationship between human beings and the environment as they play tricks on each other……
The above article is from Artisle , Text by Ben Tian Xia , click to get more infomation
