Pine Forest

Xinyi Cheng, born in China in 1989, paints by creating a dialogue between Western art history—which Cheng traces back to the Renaissance—and the emotional closeness of her subjects, members of her inner circle whom she photographs in numerous portraits, sometimes with enigmatic props. Within the confined space of her paintings, often reduced to a monochromatic background, the human figure seems to slow the course of its life and almost bring it to a standstill within the work. Cheng’s delicate aesthetic, which reflects a touching attention to the smallest details of her surroundings, elevates moments that habit masks as ordinary, inviting us to view the fleeting aspects of daily life with tenderness.

By asking his model to adopt the pose of an angel by Fra Angelico for Pine Forest, Cheng declares his love both for the history of portraiture and for the connections between intimacy and eternity.