Zhen Wei

Lives and works in Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Artist statement

My work focuses on moments in urban life that almost pass unnoticed: a sky glimpsed through a car window, reflections after rain, a street scene blurred by fog or light. Amid the constant movement, planning, and demands of daily life, these images appear when attention briefly loosens its grip. The body continues along its route, while perception begins to drift inward. Through painting, I stay with this state and ask how we might become aware of our inner lives while the world keeps moving around us. I work primarily with oil and cold wax on paper, building images through layering, covering, rubbing, and erasure. These processes allow forms to shift between emergence and disappearance. A sky may remain recognizable while dissolving into color and texture; a reflection may suggest a particular city yet feel as unstable as a trace of memory. I work between figuration and abstraction because these moments resist being held clearly or completely. The urban scenes in my paintings are not records of specific places. They are traces of the outside world as it passes through perception. I hope they offer a brief pause in which to consider how we remain connected to our surroundings while making room for an inward life of our own.

Artwork