White

Artwork Introduction

White is a work by Yang Qiong that can be understood as prose written in objects. It grew out of his reconsideration of Chinese penjing and his experience of winter in Beijing. Forms associated with walls, bricks, red gates, and stone steps are rearranged into constructed, snow-covered scenes that do not represent existing landscapes. Snow is not only a visual motif. It covers the forms and later melts, becoming part of how the work unfolds rather than only a surface effect. The work’s literary expression lies in the objects themselves and in their arrangement.