From Oct. 22-31, 2021, Museum 54 will present artist Xinyu Han's first solo exhibition in her artist career Home Alone. The exhibition will cover paintings made by Xinyu during her student life in New York City, and the works she has produced after returning to her hometown in Shanghai. The featuring artworks from Home Alone contemplate on the solitary state of being of individuals in the cities, which is the central motif that Xinyu explores in her works throughout time.

As a young artist who has the experience of living in more than one country, Xinyu Han observes the physical and mental isolation of individuals living in the cities with her acute insight, documenting the sense of loneliness being often neglected in people’s modern life. From a gentle yet reserved tonality, Xinyu's paintings express her thoughts on individual's relation with the modern society.

As one of the many only childs in the household who grew up in China, Xinyu was used to staring outside from concrete buildings alone as a kid. In Display Only, the artist portrayed a surreal setting where an artificial playground was placed inside of a wooden cabinet. The distorting composition, surreal objects, and separated space together bring an eerie ambience into the picture. By applying bright colors on objects that are often seen in our daily life, the artist intends to express an optimistic sentiment regarding the experience of growing up as an only child.

A sense of isolation is pervasive in Xinyu's artworks. Figures are visually distant, and the emptiness of a group of people can be exaggerated. Inspired by western contemporary artists like Luc Tuymans and Gerhard Richter, Xinyu applied both representational and abstract painting techniques into her works, where the subject matters are strongly metaphorical. During her college life in New York, Xinyu mainly discussed the alienation of individuals from the lense of an outsider. After returning home to Shanghai, Xinyu observes the city where she was most familiar with from a new perspective. Realizing that alienation do not only exist between individuals but also daily objects, the artist has started to embrace the state of solitary with an open mindset. Solitude is a peculiar state. It is different from loneliness, which has a negative connotation, but a rather honest and accepting state of being.

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