J.A Feng: Daylight, Burning
Opening Saturday, February 1st.
Artist reception Friday, February 21st,
6-8pm.
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02.01.25 - 03.01.25
︎Checklist
︎Checklist
12.26 in Los Angeles is pleased to present Daylight, Burning, a new series of paintings by J.A Feng.
Feng's new body of work encounters organisms en route through corporeal environments. These creatures come and go through their proximate ecosystems, feeding on nearby resources such as light, provisions, shelter, and even time. The life forms consume their locale, generating a process of constant proliferation and waning.
In Lateral Moves, a peacock tenderly grasps a branch; maybe it's set to depart from the arboreal limb, but it's possible the bird may have only just arrived. Despite the uncertainty of takeoff, the creature is balanced by the vertical composition, with the opportunity for movement on the horizon signaled by parted wings. Surrounding the bird are other winged earthly creatures who refute the traditional pecking order with their scale, which defies scientific logic. Emerging from green cordate portals are biomorphic insects flittering about. Among them are moths with the bodies of a bobcat, a whale, a tree, and a snail, along with an alligator-bodied dragonfly, a bat, and a human being.
The triptych Side Eye, originally intended to be a single-panel painting, evolved into three following an experience Feng had with the natural world. Originally, Feng intended to create an elegy for her cultivated roses consumed by caterpillars in late spring. However, the narrative evolved when Feng realized the caterpillars, future pollinators in larval form, were no less meaningful than her devoured roses. Feng expanded the composition to accommodate a caterpillar and moth. The moth perches boldly at the peak of the triptych blazoned in autumnal hues.
Last Unicorn Painting, developed from a previous study on paper, hints towards hopeful regeneration. While the pink egg carton cradles eleven unicorns, a twelfth leaps out of the side, and a lucky thirteenth exits through a tree-lined trail in the background. Drought nests the carton, but the promise of abundance is evident by the goldenrod and aster plants, vital pollinator plants native to Feng's home state of New York, that have gone to seed in the foreground.
In the show's eponymous painting, Daylight, Burning, a winged figure rides a teal motorcycle with wheels donning geometrical patterns that almost appear reptilian. The motorcyclist is leaving the plane of visibility within the painting, heading towards an open-ended destination that brings with it its own promise of light.
J.A Feng (b. 1982, Champaign, IL) received her MFA from Boston University in 2015 and completed a residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2016. Recent solo exhibitions include Candice Madey, New York (2024), 12.26, Dallas (2023), Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles (2022). Recent group exhibitions include Platform Projects, Brooklyn (2024); Kings County Tennis League, New York (2024); Gallery Mariposa, Los Angeles (2024); Alice Amati, London (2024); DC Moore, New York (2023); Gallery Also, Los Angeles (2023); Nathalie Karg, New York (2022); Eric Firestone Gallery, New York (2022); Harkawik, New York (2022); Tops Gallery, Memphis, TN (2022) and North Loop, Williamstown, MA (2022). Feng has also received fellowships from NYSCA/NYFA (2021), Shandaken Paint School (2020) and NARS Foundation (2017). This is Feng’s third exhibition with 12.26.
Feng's new body of work encounters organisms en route through corporeal environments. These creatures come and go through their proximate ecosystems, feeding on nearby resources such as light, provisions, shelter, and even time. The life forms consume their locale, generating a process of constant proliferation and waning.
In Lateral Moves, a peacock tenderly grasps a branch; maybe it's set to depart from the arboreal limb, but it's possible the bird may have only just arrived. Despite the uncertainty of takeoff, the creature is balanced by the vertical composition, with the opportunity for movement on the horizon signaled by parted wings. Surrounding the bird are other winged earthly creatures who refute the traditional pecking order with their scale, which defies scientific logic. Emerging from green cordate portals are biomorphic insects flittering about. Among them are moths with the bodies of a bobcat, a whale, a tree, and a snail, along with an alligator-bodied dragonfly, a bat, and a human being.
The triptych Side Eye, originally intended to be a single-panel painting, evolved into three following an experience Feng had with the natural world. Originally, Feng intended to create an elegy for her cultivated roses consumed by caterpillars in late spring. However, the narrative evolved when Feng realized the caterpillars, future pollinators in larval form, were no less meaningful than her devoured roses. Feng expanded the composition to accommodate a caterpillar and moth. The moth perches boldly at the peak of the triptych blazoned in autumnal hues.
Last Unicorn Painting, developed from a previous study on paper, hints towards hopeful regeneration. While the pink egg carton cradles eleven unicorns, a twelfth leaps out of the side, and a lucky thirteenth exits through a tree-lined trail in the background. Drought nests the carton, but the promise of abundance is evident by the goldenrod and aster plants, vital pollinator plants native to Feng's home state of New York, that have gone to seed in the foreground.
In the show's eponymous painting, Daylight, Burning, a winged figure rides a teal motorcycle with wheels donning geometrical patterns that almost appear reptilian. The motorcyclist is leaving the plane of visibility within the painting, heading towards an open-ended destination that brings with it its own promise of light.
J.A Feng (b. 1982, Champaign, IL) received her MFA from Boston University in 2015 and completed a residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2016. Recent solo exhibitions include Candice Madey, New York (2024), 12.26, Dallas (2023), Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles (2022). Recent group exhibitions include Platform Projects, Brooklyn (2024); Kings County Tennis League, New York (2024); Gallery Mariposa, Los Angeles (2024); Alice Amati, London (2024); DC Moore, New York (2023); Gallery Also, Los Angeles (2023); Nathalie Karg, New York (2022); Eric Firestone Gallery, New York (2022); Harkawik, New York (2022); Tops Gallery, Memphis, TN (2022) and North Loop, Williamstown, MA (2022). Feng has also received fellowships from NYSCA/NYFA (2021), Shandaken Paint School (2020) and NARS Foundation (2017). This is Feng’s third exhibition with 12.26.