Wang Haiyang is known for exploring the surreal nature of the unconscious mind; the stuff of dreams, which for some are our truest response to reality. Visually, compared with the clear shape of academic realism that characterized Wang Haiyang’s early animations, his new works are almost entirely abstract. For reasons that are explained in the artist’s introduction, they are deeply rooted in reality: the actual experience of his physical being and psychological condition during an extended period of isolation following an operation. The state of being alone is one with which all artists are familiar. It is how most must create, but to be so alone can be challenging, not least lonely. The process of dealing with himself proved for Wang Haiyang key to unlocking new avenues of experience. The resultant works embody honest and powerfully articulated truths.
