Ma Wei Solo Exhibition: Tales of the Spirit World

About

Ma Wei's paintings are about imaginary creatures. She calls them 'spirits'. They are metamorphoses from plants and animals, they are beyond your imagination, some are arrogant, some are gentle, some are disturbing, some are amusing. They create a path between the viewer and that of the artist, as well as the mystical world of the imagined spirits. These living creatures in Ma Wei's paintings have their own characters and peculiarities, engaging us, and reminding us the vague memories of the long ago, from time immemorial, and the tales of the spirit world.

In the manner of Chinese traditional painting, Ma Wei embodies the artistic conception of traditional Chinese aesthetics. The flowing line, the graceful gesture, the emptiness of the painting represent a typical Chinese perception of beauty: the rhythm of stillness and movement. The paintings on display include 'Summer' and 'Winter' which depicts its primeval chaotic state of the spirit world, where the creatures are restlessly chasing around and ruthlessly being chased, yet the whole scene appears to be dominated in an atmosphere of balance and harmony. The silk used in Ma Wei's work, as a unique medium in Chinese painting, delivers a mellow brown tone of age. It simply draws the viewer back, through time and space, to a sense of eternal harmony, a rhythmic dance-like movement of the spirit.