Ju Ting
Ju Ting (b. 1983, Shandong, China; lives and works in Beijing, China) is one of China’s foremost young female contemporary artists with a work characterized by coalescing two conventional art media: painting and sculpture, and obscuring the boundary between the two. Ju Ting graduated from the Printmaking Department with a BA in 2007, and with a master in 2013. Her works have been exhibited at Museum and institutions including OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Xi’an, China; Stable Gallery of Lal Lal Estate, Melbourne, Australia; Shijiazhuang Art Museum, Shijiazhuang, China; Xinjiang Art Museum, Xinjiang, China, Taikang Space, Beijing, China; Today Art Museum, Beijing, China; Hi Art Center, Beijing, China. Her works are also in the collections of museum and institutions including National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China; Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China and White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia, etc.
Pearl 040921, 2021
acrylic on board
107 x 107 x 7 cm
In the Pearl series, a wooden board serves as foundation onto which Ju Ting applies many layers of acrylic paint on top of each other obtaining a certain thickness. She then uses a carving knife to cut open the paint and reveal the stacked layers of color within. Here the knife plays the role of the paintbrush, forming three-dimensional brushstrokes. At the same time, the artwork’s surface is embedded with many faintly visible layers. If the viewers move through the exhibition space, they will perceive the subtly shifting colors produced by the rows of vertical lines. Optical rhythm catalyzes a once plain two-dimensional space, creating motion within the picture.
Untitled 052620, 2020
acrylic on board
72 x 62 x 10 cm
In Ju Ting's Untitled series, the layerings are achieved by spreading various single tones of acrylic paint across a board that is laid flat on the floor. The application is often done with different tools and then left to dry, just enough, without fully hardening. It is then ready to be peeled off and combined as one among many layers of a new composition. Given the malleable plasticity of acrylic paint, Ju Ting is able to manage layers of paint in a very intuitive and sensory way.
Winter is Coming, 2021
acrylic on board
155 x 124 x 13 cm
Winter is Coming is the most recent series that Ju Ting has been experimenting with since last winter in Beijing. Living in the harsh winter climate of Northern China, Ju Ting started reflecting: What if I left the layers of acrylic paint completely hardening in the cold and dry weather? What action could I take without much manipulation of the material? The actual answer shown on the surface are holes caused by a hammer, through which cracked layers of color are revealed.
Coral, 2020 - 2021
acrylic, hollow brick
41 x 59 x 33 cm
Coral, 2020 - 2021
acrylic, hollow brick
51 x 60 x 40 cm
Coral, 2020 - 2021
acrylic, cinder block
44 x 56 x 35 cm
Coral forms the newest series from Ju Ting (*1983), a young female artist from Beijing, and is embedded in the artist’s reflection on time, life, death and rebirth. In this series, the artist reshapes strips of paint that had been cut off from the Pearl series, and places them atop a concrete block, and then pours additional layers of paint over these materials to fuse them into a single, growing whole. Through a powerful visual impact and explosive colors, the Coral convey a unique vitality, making these long dormant objects radiate with new life, just like the beautiful corals that tenaciously cling to the limestone remains of their ancestors.