In Lingerfield, Wenjie Yu keeps painting in a state of continuous “incompletion.” The surface is composed of subtle interactions among fibers, layers of pigment, and stitching, with forms delayed in their emergence, constantly probing possible shapes at the threshold of visibility. Viewing is thus guided toward a low-energy perception: the eye does not seek a clear image but traces its generative direction through the local oscillations of the material.
Installation view of Lingerfield, Nov 8, 2025 - Dec 30, 2025, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Courtesy of Nan Ke Gallery, Photographed by Runxin.
Compared with the compositional and figurative logic of traditional painting, Yu’s practice aligns more closely with a “post-constructive” system. Elements within the image do not conform to an overarching organization nor settle at structural nodes; they maintain a loosely drifting autonomy with faint interconnections. Form does not focus but arises across numerous minor events, keeping the image in a liminal state—directed yet resisting stabilization.
Installation view of Lingerfield, Nov 8, 2025 - Dec 30, 2025, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Courtesy of Nan Ke Gallery, Photographed by Runxin.
In Night Soil, the deep blue ground conveys a slowly shifting density, with fibers and pastel leaving intermittent traces along the surface, as forms cycle between aggregation and dispersal. The Room series introduces slight spatial shifts across a grid-like fabric surface; geometric shapes retain their appearance, yet depressions, stains, and stitching persist internally, rendering the “surface” an unstable thickness. The viewer cannot find a resting point in the structure but must move through these detailed events.
Installation view of Lingerfield, Nov 8, 2025 - Dec 30, 2025, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Courtesy of Nan Ke Gallery, Photographed by Runxin.
As the exhibition progresses, forms begin to appear more directly. In Unclear, the semi-transparent, plant-like structures float on the pigment surface, forming thin-film states as a result of internal rhythmic changes. In Dreaming a Prophecy at Dawn, red petal-like forms carry a bodily-scale pulse; pigment layers naturally shift between compression, contraction, and dispersal, generating their contours from the internal movement of the image rather than narrative. In Nowhere to Rest, stitching, pastel, and voids create a nearly floating visual surface, with the painting sustaining an open tension at low frequency, drawing viewers into a slowly delayed temporal perception.
Installation view of Lingerfield, Nov 8, 2025 - Dec 30, 2025, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Courtesy of Nan Ke Gallery, Photographed by Runxin.
Yu’s visual language emphasizes the logic of material generation: fibers, pastel, threads, and fabric interact within a unified system. Each element, though minimally engaged, continually affects the overall rhythm. Form is light, narrative is removed, and perception shifts from the subjective to the micro-level responses of the surface. The image exists in a critical state: unfinished, unresolved, and always susceptible to change, revealing a distinct generative power—painting manifests vitality through ongoing emergence and distribution of energy.
Installation view of Lingerfield, Nov 8, 2025 - Dec 30, 2025, Nan Ke Gallery, Shanghai © Courtesy of Nan Ke Gallery, Photographed by Runxin.
His practice spans painting, sculpture, installation, moving images, embroidery, performance, and sound, employing a perceptual logic of secondary stitching and three-dimensional quilting. Under even lighting, sculptural effects are subtle; under angled or uneven light, images appear or vanish, creating a variable narrative. Yu’s work originates from the bodily and mental experience of engaging with the world, transforming illusion, memory, association, and emotion into visual fragments. Grand and minute narratives coexist; he pursues artistic honesty and courage while fostering sustained dialogue with the viewer. Leaping between history and the future, his work conveys a sense in which the present is simultaneously past and future.
December 6, 2025
