randian | 燃点

If you cannot place the artist Wu Di together with an immediate image of her art, it is not because she is a new artist or because you have not seen her work. Based in Beijing, Wu Di has been producing good art, and great exhibitions, for more than a decade. However, she does not want to be known for a single style of expression or form of art alone. And so, her work constantly changes form. The experimental nature of her approach is as refreshing as the diversity of forms that result. Wu Di is an artist in the true sense of the word, and not a manufacturer of artworks.

It takes some courage for an artist to keep changing style. Where Wu Di makes art directly inspired by her life experiences, you might think her life is in a constant state of flux. We will never know that for sure, because Wu Di knows that it is not important to how we experience her art. Her works bring together references to a variety of situations more or less familiar to daily life – life, death and war, animal rights, belief systems and emotions – which she hopes with resonate with her audience. Her works do not need you to think too much, just feel what they are about. Since the mid-20thcentury and the spread of conceptual art practice, “feelings” have become something of anathema to contemporary artists. But, now, in a world in which facts are increasingly vulnerable to manipulation and are undermined by fake news, our wits, or feelings, are the best measure of truth in what we see, hear, and experience. Hone those feelings and the world gains sharper focus.

Wu Di’s works reflect these conflicts between knowledge and awareness through their use of space, their seemingly random juxtaposition. The omen she references in the title of her project here is the mirror Wu Di’s installation holds up to viewers themselves.