Benrei HUANG: Shapes of self-reflection

I have always been exploring Nini’s body language. Its gestures, its posture and lines, its turning back to gaze—they are all elements in my painting. I am always on the lookout for them in my lots of doodles. 

After being under the shadow of the pandemic for more than a year, I strongly feel that the Creator is teasing us. I often wonder: Does He have a message for us? Does He want us to reflect on ourselves? 

After a whole year of living in dormancy and concentrating on creation, I understand that He wants us to submit to Him. There’s nothing to resist, as you can only submit to the will of God. Be quiet and reflect. Don’t be opportunistic nor take things for granted. Mother nature is now telling us we are nothing special, we are only human. 

Nini deep in reflection is precisely my state of mind in the past year or so.

In my 2013 solo exhibition, I began featuring soft sculptures made of wool felt, because I wanted to see what it would be like to have Nini emerge from the planar surface into a three-dimensional form. Later on, I gradually moved from soft sculptures to making limited-edition hard sculptures. I tried my best to capture the simple, organic lines and softness of Nini in the hard models, but I also hoped that it can somehow encapsulate the essence of traditional sculpture without falling into the pretentious clichés. This was no easy task, but I think I did it this time!

Drinking tea is something that is indispensable and natural in my life. 

To me, drinking tea is a lifestyle, an attitude, a kind of mood, or perhaps a ritual and philosophy. So I painted these small works depicting tea ceremony in different forms, as an attempt to reflect on the relationship between tea and Nini in different states.

The wandering couple, dressed in Yohji Yamamoto-esque attires that look mixed-and-patched together, walk through falling cherry blossoms, sprawling green hills, before they walk into the burning maple red and the icy snow white. The scenes are just majestically breathtaking! It seems that even the heavens can't bear it and turn them into immortals who are not tainted with a trace of the mundane world.

The biggest vibe I get from New York is that it is a metropolis emanating great energy in all aspects. Plus, it has four distinct seasons. Man-made urban cities under the influence of natural climate often evoke special moods. As a creator, my works under different moods are inevitably tinted by that nature-induced sentiment.