The Quiet Reflection of Wang Xiaoqu’s Dwelling in Mirrors

Description

Wang Xiaoqu credits a trip to Europe for fuelling a recent revolution in her work. It was there that the Guilin-born, Beijing-based artist encountered the full force of Vittore Carpaccio’s canvases — and particularly the Venetian master’s rich detail of pictorial spaces — prompting a reassessment of her use of space and time, memory and milieu. This is evident in Dwelling in Mirrors, Wang’s first solo show at Kiang Malingue, which brings together more than a dozen oil paintings created in the past year.

In contrast to her earlier observational tableaus of sophisticated social situations, in these fresh works, Wang renews her focus on the individual. Inspiration comes from both her relationships with others, and a preoccupation with the widespread disparity between the ideals we project, and the demand of the inner ego. Pieces such as Salon, Sunset and Holiday all carry the air of self-portraiture, capturing mundane moments of feminine beautification. Of the person dwelling in the mirror — a reference to Emily Dickinson’s line, “I dwell in possibility.” More mirrors? The screen pictured in Enraptured is showing The Substance — a contemporary Hollywood version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the ultimate story of make-believe mirrors and refracted reflections.