The very first creation of life comes from a mother. When art becomes a gentle reply to the origin of life, a group of young creators take breaking through limitations, thriving upward, and the flow of life energy as their core theme, unfolding an artistic narrative at a leisurely pace. Using painting, sculpture and video as their mediums, they construct a dialogue about the journey of life, condensing the grand themes of life — germination, transformation and resilience — into visual poetry. In this lush, flourishing season, they compose for the audience an emotional map rooted in love, one that invites us to explore the power of life.
01\Gentle Armor
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Work Title: Slowly
Artist: Peng Yan
Dimensions: 150cm × 200cm
Medium: Mixed Media
A mother holds her swaddled infant in her arms, her hands forming an unshakable cradle. The naive baby instinctively stretches out toward the mother, eager to touch her face. In accompanying a new life through growth, every mother inevitably makes sacrifices and loses a part of herself. For this work, the artist tore up and burned delicate, romantic floral and foliage motifs — some hand-painted by her own mother — before reconstructing them via collage. Layers of rice paper are stacked upon one another. The ink washes, pigment permeation and natural creases of each layer embody the accumulation of years, bearing witness to the passage of time with its joys and wounds alike. The figure is defined by bold outlines and angular solid forms. What rests upon the mother’s shoulders is both a set of shackles and a suit of armor. As time settles and shattered fragments reunite, a stronger, more resilient inner strength emerges — gentle as it has always been, yet utterly unbreakable.
02\Spiritual Homeland
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Title: Imprints of Life
Artist: Zhou Jianping
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Centered on the existential state of contemporary people as its emotional core, the work explores the fading of memory, the bond between humanity and land, and the symbiotic relationship between spirit and flesh. Instead of deliberately dramatizing grand narratives, the piece captures the overlooked poetry of everyday life within a hazy, gentle atmosphere — those certain, genuine fragments of human emotion hidden in ordinary scenes. The painting integrates regional features from diverse locales, interweaving traces of daily existence with the warmth of life. Amid subdued, settled emotions, it completes the narration and expression of the innate poetry of life itself.
03\Echoes of Nature
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Work Title: Circulation of All Things
Artist: Hu Minxuan
Materials: Black pottery, wood, iron, carbon, earth
Driven by personal experience, firsthand observation and long-standing attention, the artist has long been deeply moved by scenes of mothers holding or carrying their children in swaddling slings. She marvels at the miracle of life and the extraordinary craftsmanship of nature. Moreover, human beings, as living creatures, are themselves children of nature, bound closely and inseparably to it. The philosophical idea that “I am integrated with all living things” has profoundly influenced her creative outlook. Her works therefore revolve around gestation, the origin of life, and the relationship between humanity and nature. She creates with the most primitive, ancient and natural materials, incorporating her long-term reflections on multi-layered space, passageways, the dialectics of life and death, and the connection to nature in contemplating the essence of all things. Titled Circulation of All Things, the work implies that all existence in nature moves in endless cycles, much like the rotation of the seasons and the rising and setting of the sun, forever shifting and flowing. In her creation, no clear boundaries divide humans, animals and plants. Instead, there is a pervasive sensory unity of “all things being one with myself”. The work conveys that every life follows the same path: from gestation and birth, through growth and prosperity, to decline and passing away. All return to their origin, lying dormant like nature resting in winter, before emerging anew from emptiness into being, repeating the eternal cycle. In this way, the artist expresses her understanding of, and reverence for, life itself.
04\Warmth Outside the Window
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Work Titles: Overlooking the Wilderness, Crossing Thorns, Forest Trail
Author: Cheng Shuyan
Work Size: 120cm×80cm (three pieces in total)
Materials: Mineral pigments, silver foil, quartz sand, acrylic, watercolor, gesso
创作开始的契机是窗。曾经提笔茫然、思绪放空时，我总爱望向窗外，观察窗户的结构，窗户本就是天然画框，作者以回忆、当下与幻想为线索，用自身成长的时间线，牵起老家与北京的羁绊。儿时在北京求学，爷爷奶奶的相伴，让异乡也成了故乡。长大后小狗Tiger闯入我的生活，平时总是用速写记录下它嬉戏、安睡的模样；现在画画时一群鹦鹉总是陪着我，为生活增添了许多温柔趣事。以窗为喻，思考束缚与枷锁，并幻想不在身边的他们此时此刻是否安然无恙。作者偏爱平面形式的画面，打破常规透视、弱化形体体积，只想还原生活本来的朴实与真诚。画画如同写作，先触动自己的内心，才能与观众产生共鸣。每个人心里都有最珍贵的人与物，而作者想做的，就是想用这份质朴温暖的力量来抚平生活中的刺。
The window is where my creative journey began. In moments of creative blankness and wandering thoughts, I would always gaze outside. Observing the structure of a window, I came to see it is naturally an inborn picture frame. Taking memory, the present and fantasy as the thread, I trace my own growth timeline to weave the emotional bond between my hometown and Beijing. I studied in Beijing as a child. Accompanied by my grandparents, this foreign city felt like home. Later in life, my little dog Tiger came into my days. I often sketched him at play and at rest. Now as I paint, a flock of parrots keep me company, bringing countless gentle and lovely moments to life. Using the window as a metaphor, I reflect on confinement and inner shackles, wondering whether those who are far away are safe and well at this very moment. I am fond of the flat pictorial style, breaking traditional perspective and weakening volume and form, seeking only to restore the simplicity and sincerity of life as it truly is. Painting is like writing: it must first touch my own heart before it can resonate with the audience. Everyone holds precious people and things deep inside. What I hope to do is use this plain, warm power to soothe the thorns and hardships in life.
05\Sweet Mask
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Work Title: All Living Beings Are Sweet
Artist: Tan Meilin
Size: 200cm × 200cm × 260cm
Materials: Sugar, iron frame, mirror surface
The artist cast ninety-six faces with syrup. Bright and alluring at first, they exude the sweetness of candy, drawing viewers near. Yet this is only the beginning. Over time, the sugar faces absorb moisture, gather dust, grow moldy, and eventually melt and break apart. This decay is not damage; it is the very essence of the work, laying bare the truth that all beautiful things drift toward demise. Neither youth nor human relationships can escape the passage of time. Beneath the surface lies a deeper metaphor of consumption. When we bite into and swallow the faces of others, we partake in a symbolic game of occupation and depletion, erasing the otherness of fellow beings. This provokes profound questions about existence and destiny: Do you truly affirm your own existence? Have you ever tasted the life of another? The work presents the entire process from wholeness to decay. It evokes no mere fear, but rather an affirmation of being. It is not about heroes, but about each of us — how we are seen, savored, and forgotten, until we finally taste the full flavor of this candy called life.
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Chief Editor / He Yisha
Responsible Editor / Du Yinzhu
Editor / Zhang Ni
Photographer / Sun Xiaomeng
