Kong Lingnan Biography

Her early works portray a world of uniformity–one where the self and the universe is one–with scenes such as islands and constellations that take on the effect of a neon-like glow. She contemplates human condition and transformation from an observer's perspective, and approaches spirituality and culture through the individual experience. In recent years, under the influence of the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung and her interest in mysticism, she tries to visualise the hidden bond between human and the unseen world, and shifts her practice towards an exploration of the inner world–its contradictions and microcosmos, its fire and billow–in seeking of the fruit of the subconscious. Focusing on transmutation of spiritual symbols in alchemy, Kong Lingnan's nuanced small-scale oil paintings on wood offer psychological portraits of friends and imprints of the inner landscape, outlining the sorrow and joy of personal emotions.

KONG LINGNAN
Born in 1983, Jilin Province, China. Lives and works in Beijing, China.

EDUCATION
2018 Graduated from Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK2007 Graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Shepherding Fish, Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2017 Contours, Gallery Yang, Beijing, China
2015 May 15, 2015. A307, Hong Yuan Apartment A307, Beijing, China
2014 Beach, Gallery Yang, Beijing, China
2012 Write in Water, Gallery Yang, Beijing, China
2011 Only Her Body, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China (curated by Yang Shaobin)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 Being, Wanying Art Gallery, Shijiazhuang, China Inner Universe, Gallery Yang, Beijing, China
2015 CAFAM Future Exhibition, CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
2014 Nihilistic Belief, Antenna Space, Shanghai, China On the Road, Guanshanyue Museum, Shenzhen, China
2012 The Creator's Project, UCCA, Beijing, China

ART FAIRS SOLO PROJECTS
2016 Solo Project at Art Basel Hong Kong, Discoveries Section

Text courtesy Capsule Shanghai.