Chinese Chen Hongzhu’s work, is filled with stark “china doll” portraits of fractured innocence, her figures appear child-like and cute, but at the same time old beyond their years. Sometimes they’re cut or bruised, damaged in some way; often they’re accompanied by cryptic animal familiars that give them a kind of surreal comfort and company. As Chen describes in her own words:
“I believe that in every person’s heart live two children– one that turns to the light and another that feeds on darkness. Your entire life you must look after and appease these two children. I often paint people and animals together because I feel animals embody a kind of collective human unconscious. Our inner naive and reclusive self can be expressed well by the animals, almost as if they are mirrors showing a reflection of humanity. My pictures often obscure the boundary between man and animal, and in this way display an even clearer view of humankind.”
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