WANG MENGSHA

Wang’s paintings, often imbued with bold and striking colours, offers a visual feast that is both aesthetically pure and symbolically profound. Her use of a scatter-point perspective, a method from traditional Chinese painting, allows a stream-of-consciousness narrative to unfold across her works, providing a non-linear, fluid exploration of thoughts and emotions, as opposed to the logical and rigid perspective stressed by Western aesthetics. Exaggerating on this traditional method, as in her work, A Glimmer of Distant Fragrance, Wang creates a lying-on-one-side maiden, outsized butterflies or still objects, in order to invite us to step into a world where childhood dreams are not forgotten whispers but vivid realities that dance jovially on her creations.

Wang’s art does not merely depict scenes; it encapsulates emotions, memories, and a subtle yet poignant commentary on the dichotomy of our world. Wang paints not with a heavy hand, but with a lightness that belies the depth and complexity of her work. Her creations are a gentle rebellion against the heaviness of the adult world, a world where responsibilities often overshadow dreams, and pragmatism dims the vibrant colours of imagination and wonder: for example, in her artwork Shadow of the Flowers, Wang juxtaposes a child-like tiger, signifying dangers, against various auspicious elements, such as a pair of giant blue birds, oversized roses, as well as court maidens, to name a few.