Tian Shi

Tian Shi's dually seductive and subversive mixed media sculptures, drawings and collages, filled with sensual, often Japonesque figures reveal the artist's expressive and emotional negotiation of the fragility of life. Considering his skillful renderings of the human figure as motionless dancers cast in paper, Tian Shi entices the viewer's eye with his stunning use of line and shadow. Thus, he deceptively lulls the viewer into a state of comfort with the subject matter, which, upon further inspection unveils its dark and somber message. With a deep sense of visual poetry, Tian Shi's beautiful figures are only partially displayed, with pieces of their bodies intentionally cropped or covered. These images recall the devastation and pain that haunts the Japanese bombing victims of World War II and of The Holocaust. These two dramatic events are considered a symbol of human fragility, which is the base of Tian Shi’s aesthetic.