Jess Xiaoyi Han

Ross + Kramer is pleased to present Implosion, a solo exhibition of new works by Jess Xiaoyi Han.

Implosion is Jess Xiaoyi Han’s debut solo exhibition in New York City, her second solo exhibition at Ross + Kramer, and her first in the Manhattan location.

This new body of work represents an evolution in Han’s style–her compositions becoming denser, more frenetic. Her brand of abstraction, while highly controlled, as seen in her meticulous brushwork, is expressionistic. Han speaks of her paintings in psychological terms, often citing specific moments and experiences as direct references for her paintings. Han remarked upon the title of this exhibition: “Unlike an explosion that results in an outward burst of energy and debris, an implosion involves a collapse inward. Since my last show, I have undergone a significant internal transformation that has not only influenced my work but has also affected me as a person. I have learned to embrace the intensity.”

A sense of mysticism permeates Han’s new body of work, influenced by the works of Agnes Pelton (1881-1961), the visionary painter who worked in relative isolation and has more recently become recognized for her biomorphic and abstract paintings. Like Pelton, Han represents her internal state with her very own lexicon of imagery. Vaguely recognizable objects like pearls or miniscule planets coexist with tendrils of eviscera or petals or fragments of landscape tumbling in on one another, ignoring general rules of scale, space and narrative, all in a candy colored palette. Han also cites the dense sculptural works of Sarah Sze as inspiration–Han’s paintings, though abstract, seem to describe illusionistic space and actual objects layered on top of one another, tumbling onto themselves.

Jess Xiaoyi Han (b. 1997 in Dalian, China) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She has lived between New York and Shanghai for most of her life. Han received her BFA from School of Visual Arts, NY with a concentration on illustration. She has exhibited her work internationally, with exhibitions at Bridge Gallery, Sanya; The Himalaya Center, Shanghai; Sens Gallery, Hong Kong; Fir gallery, Beijing; and more recently at Latitude Gallery, New York.