Wu Jian'an, "Heart Energy No. 2," 2015

In the hands of Wu Jian’an, the traditional Chinese medium of paper cut becomes a means of exploring an idiosyncratic range of iconographic source material culled from all over the world. One of the two contemporary artists who represented China at the 2017 Venice Biennale, Wu Jian’an has pushed the boundaries of traditional paper cut techniques into the contemporary realm.

In his work "Heart Energy No. 2," Wu Jian’an layers hundreds of paper-cut figures drawn from Chinese folklore. The mystical - and occasionally monstrous - figures are assembled in a multi-layered collage to form a tangled mass of bodies. Loosely depicting a beating heart, the collage emits a frenetic energy and channels the cultural life-force that endures through folklore and mythology.

Framed paper-cut.