Her understanding and interpretation of “youth” turns every moment of life into a wonderful chapter

“Flowery Age” alludes to the blossom of youth, when a woman is at her prime—the most radiant and cherished time. WANG extends this to mean that every woman can live their own version of “flowery age” at any stage in life. The inspiration actually came from the album Young Forever from the mega K-pop boy band BTS, which led to the beginning of this eponymous series.

Traditionally, women are expected to enter into marriage and have kids while they are still young. Once they grow older, they lose their advantage in the marriage market and often face the pressure of settling down and starting a family. Mei Ling WANG went through this struggle firsthand with her parents, and in the process, she was constantly examining what’s going through her head. Then she came across BTS speaking in a Young Forever concert and had an epiphany: women shouldn’t impose restrictions on themselves to meet the expectations of the the world, but every moment of life should be lived to its fullest. So she turned all this into the driving force of her creation, determined to bring inspiration and power to women everywhere.

In the Flowery Age series, WANG uses acrylic paint mixed with putty to give the luster of acrylics a hint of mottled hue reminiscent of an old house. Wielding fine-tip Chinese calligraphy brushes, she expands repeating dense dots into linear lines, then into the whole picture.

The imagery of petals transformed into dots, with visuals laid out by delicate brushstrokes

The dot element draws inspiration from the shape of petals that tend to be round. Meanwhile, leaves in ink wash are often painted by “dots” using various texturing techniques. WANG meticulously uses tens of thousands of dense and delicate dots to produce expansive images. The high-intensity labor work also conveys that “even when women do routine things every day, they can show extraordinary power.”

Flowery Age also tells of women’s life stories. Marriage marks the first work in the series and speaks of the rebellious state of mind when being forced to find a suitor to marry. Pattern and Fallen Leaf reflect the different foreign marriage situations of women in her family: the former depicts a pair of divination blocks hidden in a large sea of floating duckweed, suggesting the many unknowns in a marriage; the latter sees a dead leaf as a metaphor for a failed marriage. However, when a dead leaf falls back into the earth, it’s transformed into nutrients to nurture the next stage of life. Beginning illustrates WANG herself as a “purple person” with a red interior and blue exterior, creating a sense of moving flow through the overlay of colors.

Mei Ling WANG, born in 1984, has an MFA from the Academy of Art University. Influenced by her father, she fell in love with art as a child. She studied advertising design, but later embarked on the journey of artistic creation. Believing in “the infinite emotions of abstract expression”, she is particularly focused on the creative imagination of abstract painting. Her Id, Ego, Superego oil painting series before 2017 explores the subconsciousness and dream state through abstract expression.