QIRUI TAN

I am a painter based in Newcastle upon Tyne with an interest in still life and urban landscape.

Basically, my painting practice is looking at everyday objects which are always overlooked in our surroundings and trying to explore a new representation of still life and its relationship with urban landscape. I mainly make watercolor paintings based on photography and use the idea of close-up, as a way of seeing, to explore the notions of part and whole, distance and perspective, scale as well as something beyond the object itself. We overlooked some objects because we are too familiar with them. The idea of turning familiar into uncanny also interests me a lot in the process of painting.

In my paintings, I try not to give too much explanation towards them, instead, I want to leave some space for audience to read the work by themselves. I hope my painting is like an agency and tries to bridge between the beauty and audience, so that the audience can see the beauty and experience it from their own perspective. Through my work, I want to provide audience with a chance to see things differently.