Angel

In the series Angel (2006 – 2008) the subject is a young girl, pregnant and wearing a virginal white dress. Alone, she does not seem as serene as one could presume in her situation. One may even see some tears (Angel 13). Other pictures contain multiple figures of the same character, set in traditional places of power. There the young girls seem prisoners, trying to escape from the Forbidden City (Angel 6). With these figures, the artist evokes the plight of young women in China, constrained by social traditions or political primacy to the male child. Formerly sold as wives, servants or concubines they are today kidnapped, victims of incest or AIDS. Here are mixed multi-cultural references. A Chinese imperial architecture, a blue sky like in Western art, a very contemporary teenager. In an equal light and timeless atmosphere, the characters inserted into prexisting settings create some incongruity (what has to do a schoolgirl in the Imperial Palace?) or a kind of disharmony felt more than seen. It is like a new type of Chinese opera that transcends the particularities of time and place.

(Text Provided by the Artist)