Largely self taught, Dai Qing draws inspiration directly from her life. Before making art her full time occupation she had various roles as a documentary film maker, rock and roll band member, bar owner, and world traveler. In this exhibition Dai detonates an explosion of raw expressive force through a parade of portraits that stem from her past experiences. Largely indifferent to stylistic convention, she uses strong, often wild brushstrokes, bold color and an animated sense of realism to tell her current fantasies and of her past acquaintances. In a symphony of graphic angst these characters, sometimes charming and beautiful, while at other times grotesque and scary, march along the wall like an incessant hallucination. Bordering on the childlike, these untamed figures eschew pretensions of refinement and instead present a raucous, haunting vision of the world. Dai Qing’s expressionistic work has been shown at 456 Gallery, New York, US; Shopping Gallery Beijing and the St. Jacob Gallery, London, UK.