Ivian Shen

(b. 2007, Shanghai, China) Lives and works between London, United Kingdom and Shanghai, China. Ivian Shen’s artistic practice is rooted in explorations of sexuality, nature, and memory. His work is shaped by his acute sensitivity to the connection and transition between nature and emotion throughout his formative years, in the meantime, Ivian is also deeply fascinated by the layered nature of sexuality — its inherent complexity, animality, simplicity, and entangled emotionality. Working across painting, installation, and other mixed-media forms, he employs metaphorical natural motifs, bodily elements, and distinctive color style to capture intimate moments of memory, with particular attention to the weight of both emotional and sexual orgasmic experience. Ivian regards the canvas as an expanded spatial dimension of the body and affect. Within this space, the tangled psychological dynamics and identity belonging shrouded are brought into intense focus and magnification, rendered tangible through material presence, texture, and temperature.