Xu Ziqi: 'In the Gathering Darkness/Cat Portraits' (Basic Teaching & Research Department)

Inspired by the musical "Cats," Xu Ziqi has been creating pictures of cats since she was an undergraduate. In her eyes, every cat has its own outstanding character, just like every human.

"The cat crouched by night under the tree's shadow, flexed and reflexed its sheathed claws, his green amber eyes chuckled in the dusky silence. Should I call you angelical devil or poisonous beauty?" Xu describes, outlining her vision for the project. "Many people love the tameness and cuteness of cats, but I love the wildness of their instincts. It is the stray cats on the roof, in the bushes, and in the dark corners that really impress me." 

"In the Gathering Darkness" series is made up of silk paintings that portray cats' activities at night, while "Cat Portraits" are paintings on colored cardboard paper that focus on cats' facial expressions.

"Xu Ziqi's graduation works are novel in composition, elegant in color, and exquisite in artistic expression," her mentor, Professor Jin Na at AADTHU said. "The works are rich in meticulous brushwork and heavy colors. Through her long-term observation of cats, she endows cats with artistic expressions. Their shapes are concise and vivid, and their appearance is distinct. It can be seen that on the basis of inheriting traditional meticulous painting, she also possesses the spirit of exploration of modern painting language as a young contemporary artist. Therefore, her works reflect her deep thinking on artistic creation and her down-to-earth, creative attitude."