Faye Wei Wei (b.1994 in London, UK) graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in London, UK (BA Hons) in 2016. Wei Wei conceives of the painting process as an intimate choreography between actual and pictorial space. Often revolving around spiritual iconography and classical myth,love rituals and the theatricality of gender, her works sometimes suggest the themes of particular mythic narratives, and at other moments seem to depart into a more ambiguous, interior space of incongruity and uncertainty. With a palette of earthy greens, reds, pale pinks and blues, Wei Wei‘s quixotic paintings are inhabited by magical, folkloric images of bells, crosses, horses, snakes, swans, sea urchins and dreamy heart-faced figures allowing the viewer to feel like you’re getting lost in the artist’s imagination.
Just as her works are packed with motifs, so is her studio overflowing with trinkets, handwritten poetry, polaroids, soft toys, paper fans, ceramic pots and books. ‚I‘m surrounded by objects that are charged with emotional intensity things I‘ve collected on my travels or that people have given me,‘ she says. Alongside these objects, a further pillar of the holistic world of inspiration Wei Wei immerses herself in is French folk art, short stories by DH Lawrence, illustrated tracts on medieval flowers and volumes of Salvador Dali, Cy Twombly and Rubens.
