Xie Qi｜Artwork analysis

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Wrinkles from Summer, Oil on canvas,

200 × 250 cm, 2021

In Xie Qi's "Wrinkles from Summer", viewers are immersed in an illusory dream state where layered and smudged images create a sense of overlapping silent films in progress. Drifting within these images is a figure slowly diffusing into the flowing pigments, as if on the verge of turning into mist. Inspired by summer’s connection with lust, heat, and desire, Xie Qi uses the colour green to express the vitality and abundance that summer encapsulates. Meanwhile the actual shade of green used on the canvas conveys a darker melancholic undertone. Overall, the piece delivers an ambiguous message.

A full moon radiates in the upper left of the canvas, with eyes between, symbolizing the projections of desire. In a cultural context, full moons are linked to inducing irrational behavior and emotional changes in the human body. As the eyes from the moon cast their gaze down at us, we are no longer merely viewers observing it; instead, it observes us, creating an ominous atmosphere.

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Mosquito Song, Oil on canvas,

100 × 120 cm, 2021

Xie Qi's creative process often begins with self-observation, gazing at and pondering over expressive objects, peeling away the identities and intellects they possess, and conveying the emotions stored in memories. "Mosquito Song" continues this artistic characteristic. Though the figure model comes from the artist's friends, she places them under theatrical lighting, creating a contrast of light and shadow in the blurred overall background, presenting a texture of tranquility and melancholy. Starting with the physical form rather than character, she intentionally disrupts the completeness of the realistic figures, rendering them abstract and allowing emotions to manifest on the canvas and in the viewers' perception.

The artist has a profound interest in poetry and music, and she often plays with the richness of meaning contained within concise words. The titles of her works exemplify this, being succinct yet powerful. A few words can create a whole scene and form a strong intertextual relationship with the artwork. To Xie Qi, mosquito song is the background music of summer and a footnote to the restless weather. It often lurks in the background, puncturing the skin inadvertently and stirring up emotions. Similarly, the figures in the painting, with their blurred faces and diluted pretenses and performances, reveal the dilemmas and predicaments of their emotions on the canvas.