Solo Exhibition

Peishan Huang: Imagining a Returning Arrow

Duration：2025.05.31-2025.07.15
Location:  清影艺术空间，杭州市留和路139号12栋 Inna Art Space, Liuhe Road No.139, Building 12, Hangzhou




When we discuss "Imagine a Returning Arrow", I prefer to view it as the creative journey of this solo exhibition rather than as its thematic focus. It is not the establishment of a fixed proposition, but a self-directed trajectory that penetrates the one-way flow of time—a path that constantly returns. While revisiting old hard drives and notebooks, I find myself repeatedly struck by the arrows I once released—these arrows, speeding from the past, crossing through the forgotten fragments of my daily life, and piercing into the present, creating a delayed impulse and echo. They form the true driving force behind this exhibition, a subtle yet powerful collision between me and my former self.




During this artist residency, the most immediate formal practice has been a new series of photographic works created in my new studio, using accumulated material fragments from the past as a foundation. These objects, both visually and materially, mostly originate from the 1990s, the era in which I grew up. Many of them come from Xianyu (闲鱼, a Chinese second-hand platform) and second-hand markets around the world—remnants of distant geographies and the lives of unknown others. Initially, these items belonged to specific historical contexts and systems of life, but through a long process of circulation and silence, they gradually detached from their original functions, becoming material witnesses of time.





In this photographic practice, these fragments are rearranged and combined to create a new visual syntax, generating a fresh perspective between personal experience and the traces of others. They no longer exist solely as "materials"; instead, the patina of wear and the emotional edges transform them into an archive of time, a vessel of mixed memories, and an ineffable medium of cultural history. Photography, as a medium inherently delayed, has also become a means for me to reconnect with these objects. In the metaphor of the "returning arrow," these images act as repeated impacts, constantly piercing the gap between my present self and the self I once was.





Some materials and techniques new to me also make their debut in this solo exhibition. In the Journal de Paris series and Edge, Undone, I have transferred fragments of images taken between 2019 and 2023 on the streets of Paris, in the deserts of New Mexico, and in the anonymous jungles of Pennsylvania onto aluminum panels, featuring the outlines of a "vase" and a "razor blade," and strung them together with glass beads and stainless steel chains. These images, captured on the streets of Paris, are reimagined on the aluminum panels, forming a visual diary of self-editing through the juxtaposition of familiar and abstract elements.



Although the images in Journal de Paris were taken in Paris, they deliberately avoid the "representative" elements of the city's symbolic system ​(such as landmarks, language, stylistic codes, etc.). My focus is not on the recognizable iconic images of the cultural landscape, but on those vague, unmarked visual fragments—bicycles and plastic bags by the roadside, water pipes at a demolition site, decorations in front of a restaurant, weathered wooden doors and glass windows. These elements form a "culture-less" experience, referring not to the semantic entity of "Paris" itself, but to more microscopic, non-narrative traces of life and emotional remnants. This is a non-landmark image practice, a shift away from the mechanism of "other-directed gaze" commonly found in travel imagery.




In the work Edge, Undone, I chose to "de-functionalize" the blade—a tool traditionally given the function of cutting and creating new edges due to its sharpness—by removing it from its original practical context and transforming it into a purely visual symbol. The blade is no longer closely associated with violence or division, but instead becomes a formal metaphor for edges, boundaries, and modes of perception. It not only exposes the form of the "edge" itself, but also questions the mechanisms through which the edge is constructed, empowered, and dismantled. The transfer technique further reinforces the "second generation" of the image, transforming photography from an initial capture to a re-encoded physical layer. This continues my long-standing practice of "sculptural photography" and raises questions about the spatialization of the image and the narrative of the object. It is both an intimate documentary and a practice of preserving and reactivating "seemingly meaningless moments."



Epoxy resin, a highly synthetic material, serves as a key medium in my creations. It is not only chosen for its role in formal language but also becomes central to my creative thinking as the "contemporary amber." What it encapsulates is no longer the organic relics of nature, but rather symbolized artifacts, technological fragments, and cultural slices from contemporary society.





In “Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss”, I draw upon Antonio Canova's iconic sculpture as a historical reference, exploring the narratives of the body, love, and the ideal form in Western classical art. This sculpture of love and revival is reinterpreted in my work as a delicate yet resilient structure made from transparent resin, stainless steel chains, and piercing rings. The assembly logic of "puncture-connection-suspension" serves not only as a physical structural strategy but also as a symbolic linguistic system, reflecting on the non-romantic dimensions of "love" in the contemporary context. It represents a universal power structure of attraction, entanglement, and inseparability. This is not "love" in the traditional sense, but rather a state of interdependence and tension that exists between all things—a force field that transcends the conventional understanding of love.




The Amber of the Everyday series continues this exploration of connection and failure, delving further into the metaphorical potential of the "non-functionality of tools" in the contemporary context. Fishhooks, as one of the most symbolic devices for capturing, have been reimagined by me as the foundational elements of the sculptures, their original functions completely suspended after being sealed in resin. They no longer wound or capture; instead, they intertwine and connect with one another, forming a structure that dissipates and converges forces.




In these "contemporary amber hooks", I have embedded diodes, artificial plants, artificial pearls, and piercing rings—typical artifacts that imitate nature, mimicking not only its forms but also its mechanisms of existence. This "bionic-failure" mechanism represents a hallmark of contemporary man-made nature: nature is no longer the imitated other, but the produced nature—a constantly evolving structure of images that is designed, coded, and encapsulated. Piercing, as an act of bodily intervention, is also understood here as a conscious rupture with "naturalness."



The fence series shifts focus to the interface devices and control mechanisms within urban space. I pay attention to those urban elements that are often overlooked in daily visual experience, existing somewhere between utility and decoration—such as iron railings, warning fences, and anti-theft devices. These elements form the “flexible violence” of the city: though they appear slender and fragile in form, they function to delimit and exclude within the spatial construction, assuming a highly disciplinary role. They embody a spatial management system dominated by techno-logic, a “gentle but persistent control.” These artificially constructed “landscape elements” lie at the heart of my ongoing exploration of man-made nature. They create a "nature-like" visual order, seemingly a decorative imitation of nature. Though incapable of causing direct harm, they create psychological and perceptual separations—what Foucault might describe as a form of “spatial governance.” I attempt to retranslate these marginal installations into transparent, colorful, and gentle objects, giving them autonomy within the sculptural language, while reflecting on the ongoing operation of “flexible violence” in the city.



Over the past five years, my work has sought to intervene in contemporary discussions of “nature,” not by returning to the romantic ideal of pristine nature, but by addressing a “post-natural state” shaped by deep interference from artifacts. In this state, nature is no longer the Other, but a collection of images and materials that are systematically produced, reproduced, and consumed. My works engage with this entanglement of image, matter, and structure. The seemingly inorganic materials come together to form poetic structures where time is fixed, function is stripped away, and emotion is heightened.



In this exhibition, I attempt to "open the window" in the typically enclosed white cube space. My exploration of windows begins with the everyday. In the urban context, the window serves as a boundary, a gap, and a passage. It divides public and private spaces while allowing for the possibility of infiltration and intersection. Curtains, as a means of concealment, and security bars, which function both practically and decoratively, exist in the space between the visible and the invisible.



In the Window series, I use industrial aluminum profiles to construct the boundaries of the works. Photographic images of neglected façades and spaces in the city are printed on a translucent medium. Behind the images, mirrors and water-stained texts lie, condensed and undried, whispering softly. The viewer’s silhouette overlaps with the image, constantly being drawn into it during the act of watching, yet remaining untouchable. The faint words on the mirror are drawn from short poems I wrote during my graduate school years, serving as the most direct expressions of everyday emotions in a non-native language.




This viewing experience is both real and suspended, existing between reality and illusion. The entire series forms a mechanism of multiple perspectives: the viewer moves between window and mirror, image and language, occupying the roles of both the gazer and the reflected.





With a longstanding fascination with the process of hand-applied hotfix cubic zirconia, I have appropriated this artisanal technique—originally part of the decorative system in consumer goods and explicitly gendered and aesthetically labeled—into my image-making process. In this series, I reconstruct the visual form of a fence using synthetic zirconia, hand-applied onto the surface of an image printed on velvet. These fence forms, once functional symbols of separation, confinement, and control, are reinterpreted here as shimmering layers of surface decoration. This visual strategy mimics a power structure in a gaudy manner, simultaneously undermining its seriousness in the process.

Rosa Rampart
2025
Photography Printed on Velvet, Hand-Applied Hotfix Cubic Zirconia
63 × 82 cm

Street-Facing
2025
Photography Printed on Velvet, Hand-Applied Hotfix Cubic Zirconia
32 x 47  cm


In my view, there is always an impenetrable perceptual "fence" between the image and the viewer, one that is both psychological and physical. The attachment of zircon to the velvet image not only creates a visual surface but also constitutes a reflection on "depth." The viewer is confronted with a surface construction that deliberately obscures the depth of its content through material, luster, and craftsmanship. This emphasis on surface challenges the cognitive superiority of "depth" in traditional art narratives, redirecting attention to the surface as the true space of perception and the generation of meaning.

Before the Descent
2025
Photography Printed on Velvet, Hand-Applied Hotfix Cubic Zirconia
41 x 62  cm


At the same time, the embroidered borders commonly found on handkerchiefs, pillowcases, and clothing during my childhood have also been incorporated into this series of works as a form of "gentle fence." These details, often dismissed as "surface decoration," are, in fact, key visual elements in my work. Unlike more violent symbols of separation such as fences, serrated edges, or blades, lace is elegant and delicate. Yet, those seemingly harmless threads are also involved in the creation, regulation, and maintenance of boundaries. In this creative structure, surface and depth, decoration and power, desire and prohibition intertwine, forming a layered viewing experience.

The First Page, The Last Chapter
2025
Photography Printed on Velvet, Hand-Applied Hotfix Cubic Zirconia
49 x 37 cm


The Same Plane
2025
Photography Printed on Velvet, Hand-Applied Hotfix Rhinestones
33 x 51  cm




The relationship between spaces remains a central focus in my Secret series. In this body of work, I explore the subtle interplay between lock and key to discuss not only the physical interaction between spaces but also the psychological gaps and secrets within them. The interdependence of lock and key symbolizes a balance between two opposing forces: one, the force of closure, which creates invisible boundaries; the other, the force of unlocking, which reveals possibilities and the unknown. This dynamic is fluid and multi-dimensional, with each turn of the key and each closure of the lock creating a unique "gap."


Secret #2
2025
Fine Art Inkjet Print, Mid-tone Base Platinum Print, Resin
25.5 x 13.5 cm, 22.5 x 17 cm


I have always regarded the exhibition space as an exceptional channel for dialogue—one that does not rely on language yet generates meaning; one that does not require the creator's direct explanation yet echoes with a voice. Here, the works become a kind of silent decoder, carrying the parts I have left unsaid. They remain silent but not mute, unfolding between the mutual gaze of the viewer and the work, revealing aspects that are difficult to reach with words.