BETWEEN WORDS AND THINGS

ENG

Painting, as a two-dimensional medium, is often regarded as a static and univocal form of visual representation: once an image enters the viewer’s field of vision, it becomes fixed as a single possibility.
However, this very “uniqueness” also marks the limit of painting.
My research seeks to transcend this limit by introducing writing as the central element of the work, thereby expanding the ways in which the image can be generated.
Within my practice, words no longer serve a merely semantic function; they acquire a visual quality.
Typographic characters deform, twist, and evolve in relation to their meanings.
During reading, the viewer is guided into a state of imagination triggered by language—and this imagination, in turn, gives rise to infinite visual possibilities.
In my practice, painting is thus redefined as a dynamic process: no longer a single surface, but a generative field suspended between word – image – imagination.
At the same time, certain sentences within the works take on a declarative nature, functioning as manifestos of my positions, emotions, and critical reflections on the world.
Through this approach, I aim to construct a language capable of transcending the boundaries of traditional painting—investigating how visual art can intertwine with linguistics and conceptual thought, opening a horizon that extends from the finite to the infinite.

Polyptychs and details of the works

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 140cm, 2025

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2025, diptych

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2024

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2024

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2024, diptych

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2024, diptych

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2024 – diptych

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2024, diptych

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2023, diptych

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2023, polyptych

Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm, 2023, diptych

Copyright © Gao Lan 2025/2026 - design by cris.digital.fox

Copyright © Gao Lan 2025/2026 - design by cris.digital.fox