EXHIBITION DETAILS
Light Submerged, Glimmer Afloat
沉光浮隙
Light Submerged Glimmer Afloat
Artist: Sun Chengqian
Duration: 16 May–16 June 2026
Curator: Wang Yi
Producer: Guo Jianguang, Shen Shufan
Organisers:
Vanke Hangzhou
Xima Gallery
Venue:
LAN Art Center
Address:
No. 2598, Boao Road, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou
In the 《骤降2409》 series, the first thing to emerge is a relationship formed jointly by layers of wax and mid grey tones. Once wax covers the surface, the painting sustains an unstable balance between ‘sinking’ and ‘floating’. Rather than reflecting light, it seems to absorb it slowly, drawing the greys inward and lowering their register.
The translucency of the wax prevents the underlying colours from becoming fully visible. They remain on the verge of appearance, like stones dimly discernible in shallow water. The surface seems congealed, yet it is not sealed. Minute pores and fissures continue to act upon it. From a distance, the image resembles mist. Only at close range do these subtle shifts gradually come into view.
The artist’s experience is not narrated directly in these works. Instead, it settles within them. Sun Chengqian has said, ‘The north gave me a grandeur that is both solid and decaying. The south gave me chaos that has continued to expand over the past ten years. I am drawn to both.’
Migration here is not only movement through space. It is closer to a continuous internal adjustment. From 《骤降2210》 and 《徙迁》 to 《湖心的羊》, a recurring oscillation becomes visible between memory and forgetting, clarity and obscurity. This condition does not lead towards certainty. It is closer to an exploration that remains in progress.
‘Submerged light’ and ‘floating fissures’ may offer two points of entry into these works. The gaze does not remain on the surface. Guided by the wax, it descends slowly, while minute changes take place across the image. Where the wax is thinnest and the pigment begins to show, light seems to tremble.
To some extent, this approaches an experience of concealment and appearance. Light is covered, yet becomes visible through that covering. As with the Tyndall effect, light is not perceived through complete transparency, but becomes apparent within a medium. To be hidden is not to disappear. It is closer to a delayed presence.
The ‘fissure’, then, is not merely a break in the surface. It is an interval that forms naturally between ‘sinking’ and ‘floating’. The deepest point is often where appearance begins.
