At Large  June 20, 2025  Megan D Robinson

Wenhui Hao’s Dynamic Blend of Figuration and Abstraction

Photo by Jacob Holler

Wenhui Hao, Salt and the Silver Twilight, 2025, Oil on Linen, 59 x 69 in

Emerging artist Wenhui Hao (2000) has been drawing attention with her striking blend of figuration and abstraction. The 2024 Royal College of Art graduate now lives and works in Beijing and London and has had a number of popular exhibitions across Europe and Asia. Her first U.S. solo exhibition opened June 11th at Half Gallery in NYC.

Photo by Rob Low

Wenhui Hao

Hao’s dynamic paintings, full of slashing lines, curvaceous shapes, and light that feels almost solid, reconstructs personal narrative practices– addressing themes such as female desire, sexual violence, bodily trauma, and medical pathology. Art & Object got to discuss Hao’s art and practice with this fascinating artist. 

Megan D Robinson: How are light and color important to your compositions?

Wenhui Hao: I construct complex, multi-layered spaces through the arrangement of light and color. I am fascinated by the stark contrasts that emerge when the same object is cast under different lighting conditions. Intense light allows me to capture a richer spectrum of colors. Highly saturated colors lend a fragmented, yet smooth, quality to my expression— a visual language that also metaphorically reflects how contemporary humans absorb information and process thoughts. 

When light dims, the contours of objects gradually blur, replaced by a sense of ambiguity between the real and the unreal. At this point, I become more drawn to space— what lies ‘behind the objects.’ In my work, the aesthetic and construction of spatial depth are influenced by my study of Chinese landscape painting

Photo by Jacob Holler

Wenhui Hao, The Problem Lies in the Water, 2025, Oil on Linen, 74 3/4 x 51 1/4 in

MDR: You mix figuration and abstraction, what do you feel your work gains through this intermixture?

WH: I am insatiable when it comes to imagery— obsessed with the material accumulation of layered paint and the thrill of capturing randomness during the painting process. That’s why I never sketch or plan compositions beforehand. I selectively preserve the surprises that emerge from the act of painting itself. But, this doesn’t mean I don’t know when a piece is finished. I am addicted to finding that precise balance between control and chaos. Sometimes the landscape emerges first; other times, it’s the fragmented torsos.

Through my relentless deconstruction and disruption of figurative forms, I construct an imagined space for the viewer. To me, figurative painting is a language of symbols and narrative, while the unfilled, ambiguous flesh forms act as negative space— and also as an uncanny valley. Abstraction, on the other hand, compresses and distills narrative, serving as a material manifestation of my fleeting emotional experiences. Through this synthesis, I achieve an explosive visual potency…

Photo by Jacob Holler

Wenhui Hao, Summertime Tide, 2025, Oil on Linen, 59 x 47.2 in

MDR: You have compared the process of painting to suturing. What attracts you to medical terminology? What do you see yourself building?

WH: My interest in medical terminology stems from a personal bodily experience— I had an abortion after an unplanned pregnancy. After the procedure, I began to reflect on China’s family planning policies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is a silent and oppressive history– most women from my mother’s generation were compelled to have abortions for the sake of family planning, yet they often chose to remain silent about it. 

That summer, I bled for an entire month in pain, with cold metal instruments repeatedly inserted into my body. I immersed myself in medical atlases about anatomy, female reproduction, and abortion procedures. 

Photo by Rob Low

Wenhui Hao

I found that the act of “repeated destruction and repair” in painting closely resembles surgical treatment in medicine. I believe my paintings attempt to construct the complex life experiences of women. I hope my work embodies a sense of female strength. The painting itself becomes a fertile flesh— whether bleeding or healing, wounded or growing, the body exists in symbiosis with nature.

MDR: Your painting is in layers of work that you destroy and reconstruct— how is this layered un-making and making important to the final product?

WH: From a visual perspective, I am deeply fascinated by the material accumulation of paint. Each impasto stroke, whether thick or thin, carries its own character and beauty. The variation in texture across different areas of the canvas also helps me construct spatial depth.

From a personal perspective, painting is a practice that simulates the cycle of desire. I see painting as caressing, as an eternal touch of something that continually evades, and as an endless attempt to fill something that cannot be filled. Painting is a process where "damage" and "repair" overlap repeatedly. It is an intertextual construction by materiality and experiences of love and desire. 

Photo by Jacob Holler

Wenhui Hao, Nocturnal Voyage, 2025, Oil on Linen, 39 1/2 x 31 1/2 in

MDR: You often use fruit and other food as initial subject matter for figurative imagery. Why have you focused on food, and how does this express observations about human interactions?

WH: My journey into abstract painting began with painting fruits. I have been observing and painting food for a while now, recognizing the profound connections between appetite and desire. It involves primal urges, a rejection of intellect, and a craving for the fulfillment of desires. 

The process of dismantling and cooking food is inherently violent, an indulgent manipulation serving as an outlet for suppressed desires. 

MDR: What do you want people to know about your work? What do you hope viewers experience through your work?

WH: I don’t demand that every viewer resonate with my work— every stroke I make serves only to satisfy my intuition. I consider myself a feminist artist. In my paintings, I confront women’s trauma, fantasies, desires, and the richness of their emotional experiences. I prefer viewers to engage with my work through the raw emotional language of the visuals themselves, rather than relying on textual explanations. 

About the Author

Megan D Robinson

Megan D Robinson writes for Art & Object and the Iowa Source.

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