Fire has become a spirit.

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On July 23rd, EDA Space will present "There Is Fire Germinating In My Chest," a new solo exhibition by artist DAZH, the first solo exhibition for the artist in Shenzhen since EDA Space officially represented her. The exhibition focuses on the artist's recent series of paintings "There Is Fire Germinating In My Chest" and an expanded series of installation sculptures. Exploring Dazhi's adherence to his inner tenacity and his spirit towards art "So fire becomes something immaterial and insubstantial; it becomes the spirit." This is derived from the famous French philosopher Gaston Bachelard's book, The Psychoanalysis of Fire. Bachelard used his epistemological perspective to psychoanalyze the element of fire. As an exhibition, "There's Fire in My Chest" continues the influence of fire as a spiritual symbol.

 

The artist leaves the ownership of the picture to intuitive judgment through a trust that stems from the instincts of the body. The images present a child's version of a primitive and constant proposition, with techniques and conflicts implicitly and deeply hidden. Behind the childish traces of oil sticks on the picture is the result of the artist's long-term observation of them. Dazhi finds that the sticks are extremely ductile while maintaining their own qualities, and that they cannot be repeated, so she can only "paint" them in a childlike manner. Like fire, it can warm and start a fire. 

 

"The works in this series, "A Fire in My Chest," originate from the trust in the instinct of the body, which creates the illusion of reality, balancing the firm will of formal reason with the call from sensibility. At the top of the fire, the color of the fire gives way to a barely visible tremor, so that the fire becomes something immaterial and insubstantial, it becomes spirit" (1) 1.1. "The Psychoanalysis of Fire" by Gaston Bashra, translated by Du Xiaozhen and Gu Jiachen.​