The Writer's Selection : Ping Wang Xin
ROOMS 17 presents Ping Wang Xin
Here are the works of an artist whose images capture and communicate the moments of solitude that too often in our busy lives, go unnoticed. In a world that has become so fixated on being constantly connected, these moments are becoming harder to visualise and harder to find, which is why I was drawn to the works of New York based artist Ping Wang. Ping’s photographs give way to these moments of reflection and serve to remind us of the small but important presence of things that we take for granted. The subtleties of light that frame our ever changing landscapes, for example, or the architecture that stands before us as we venture into work. Ping’s images remind us to look up from our screens, to take a break from the digital infusing our lives and to take pleasure in the fact that we live in a world filled with splendour and beauty.
With an emotional sensitivity that many photographers lack, Ping explores the subtle interaction of human beings and the environment and in capturing the lone figure in moments of silence, skillfully manages to recharge our own appreciation for such feelings. I was particularly drawn to Ping’s series of travel inspired images that effortlessly capture scenes of people and sweeping landscapes to express his overriding themes of solitude and solace. Among them, the hazy image of a young child wandering absent-mindedly amidst the blushing orange sun that sets low on Brooklyn’s Coney Island and the simple yet refreshing scenes of humans interacting with one another on a ferry to New York. For London’s underground would have you thinking otherwise. And then there is my favourite image of a man pondering and absorbing in the realm of nature as he tends his leaves (Shan Dong in China, 2014). The photograph documents nature and man working together to create an isolation that I believe, is often the driving force behind creativity.
With these images comes an amazing ability to fill you with a desire to experience these new cultures and feel the energy of such exotic locations. An ache for distant places, the craving to travel. These are the scenes prior to the indoctrination of digitalisation and they are like bouts of fresh air, captured so beautifully and artistically by Ping that it would be hard not to miss them.
Check out Ping Wang's work in our current issue ROOMS 17, Who decides what you see?
