Artwork Description

SHAOLI CHEN
Girls, n.d.
ink and colour on paper
66 x 66 cm (26 x 26 in)
The present work depicts two young women positioned confidently before a densely flowering backdrop, the composition structured as a compact, almost emblematic square field. Shaoli Chen arranges the figures with deliberate clarity, allowing their fashion-forward presentation and distinct poses to animate the otherwise still pictorial space. The surrounding floral elements function both as decorative framing device and as an atmospheric counterpoint to the figures’ contemporary presence.
Each figure is rendered with a focus on individual character and stylistic specificity. One wears a striped skirt paired with a graphic T-shirt bearing the inscription “369,” while the other is dressed in jeans, a velvet-textured blouse, and a pink cardigan. These carefully observed sartorial details lend the composition a sense of immediacy, anchoring the work in a recognisably modern urban visual culture while maintaining the formal poise of traditional figural painting.
Chen’s practice is characterised by the synthesis of ink-based pictorial traditions with contemporary figuration, and Girls exemplifies this hybrid approach. The fluid handling of line and colour, together with the stylised rendering of the figures, reflects an adaptation of classical Chinese brushwork to a modern iconography. The natural backdrop, rendered in blooming, decorative profusion, further reinforces the dialogue between inherited landscape conventions and present-day visual language.
Within the broader context of contemporary Chinese painting, the work speaks to shifting expressions of identity, individuality, and stylistic self-presentation. The figures’ assertive poses and distinct fashion choices suggest an engagement with globalised aesthetics and evolving youth culture, set against a backdrop that evokes continuity with traditional pictorial environments.
Girls is representative of Shaoli Chen’s sustained interest in the intersection of personality, fashion, and painterly tradition. The work distils these concerns into a compact and visually engaging composition, in which contemporary subject matter is refracted through a refined and culturally resonant pictorial framework.