Philip Martin Gallery is proud to present “Lemon Squeeze,” an on-line exhibition of new acrylic and oil-on-canvas works by New York-based artist, J.A Feng. Feng’s works explore personal mythology with vibrant color, humor, and vulnerability.
In J.A Feng’s works, cosmic scenes come to life through textured layers of paint, vibrant colors and active, yet inanimate objects. Her painting process is additive, often building the color and images in layers over time. Through this process, various forms begin to mold and shape into one another, creating smaller worlds within the context of larger ones. As the layers build, Feng illustrates the passage of time as “the sensation of recalling memories and gazing into the subconscious.”
Throughout Feng’s work, the lemon also stands as a motif that suggests the passage of time. In the painting, “Lemon Squeeze,” she depicts a lemon squeezing itself into a hug. As it twists and bends, acidic droplets fling through the air around it. “My most intuitive response to the political landscape was to portray the lemon as a surrogate for a human form,” Feng comments, “it’s trying to self-soothe, and in the process also wringing itself out.” In another painting, “Black Hole Lemon,” we witness the fruit centered by a small, black hole. As it sits on a pillowy cloud-like form, falling into itself, a vine can be seen growing out from the lemon’s skin. Highlighting the lemon’s skin, which has a yellow exterior, Feng describes the fruit as a representation of herself. “I’m trying, in a playful way, to allude to my Chinese-American heritage by reclaiming the trope of East Asians as being ‘yellow-skinned,” she comments, “I consider these self-portraits.”
Feng’s paintings elicit ambiguity. Specific and recognizable forms invite viewers to open interpretation. Feng utilizes the relatability of “cosmic, primal and cartoonish” forms in order to create representations of human tenderness, humor and vulnerability. Through this interaction between nature and the body, she emphasizes “the terror and pleasure that is the sublime.”
J.A Feng (b. 1982, Champaign, IL) received a BFA from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL) and an MFA from Boston University (Boston, MA). J.A Feng’s work was recently subject of a solo exhibition with 12.26 Gallery (Dallas, TX) in the spring of 2020. Feng’s works have been included in solo and group exhibitions at Craig Krull Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); NARS Foundation (Brooklyn, NY); Agency Gallery (Brooklyn, NY); Centotto Gallery (Brooklyn, NY); Gallery Korea of the Korean Cultural Center (New York, NY); Commonwealth Gallery (Boston, MA); Huret & Spector Gallery, Emerson College (Boston, MA); and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (Madison, ME). Her work has been featured in publications such as 7x7 and Outback Arthouse. Feng lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
J.A Feng’s exhibition is on-line through May 12, 2021. Sedrick Huckaby’s exhibition of new sculptures and paintings, "Estuary," is on view at the gallery through May 14, 2021.
In accordance with Los Angeles County Covid-19 protocol, Philip Martin Gallery is currently open by appointment only. To make an appointment, or to get additional images, or information please email info@philipmartingallery.com, or call 213-422-9286. Philip Martin Gallery is located at 2712 S. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034 in the Culver City area of Los Angeles between Venice Blvd. and Washington Blvd., just south of the 10 Freeway.