Jiang Miao Solo Exhibition Opens in New York: Carved Acrylic Art

Celebrated Chinese artist Jiang Miao debuts “The Shape of Living Light” at Crossing Art, exploring time and Taoist philosophy through carved acrylics.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Sept. 3, 2026 — Chinese contemporary artist Jiang Miao opened her first solo exhibition in New York, The Shape of Living Light, at Crossing Art in Chelsea, bringing a body of work shaped by years of printmaking, painting and engagement with Chinese philosophy to a new audience.

Catherine Lee, an art collector, founder of Crossing Art and curator of the exhibition, described Jiang as “one of the most celebrated female artists in China today.” Jiang has held solo exhibitions in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and Seoul, and her work is held by institutions including the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Today Art Museum, the Macao Museum of Art, Nanjing Museum and China Printmaking Museum.

At first glance, the works draw viewers in through luminous color and tightly structured circular forms. Up close, however, their surfaces begin to change. Fine carved lines break through layers of acrylic, revealing earlier colors underneath, while shifts in depth and texture become more visible as viewers move from one side of a work to the other. From a distance, the pieces can read as unified fields of color and movement; at close range, they open into dense networks of incisions, ridges and layered surfaces.

Jiang creates this effect by repeatedly applying layers of acrylic and then carving back into the accumulated surface. Some works are painted over dozens of times before the cutting begins. Rather than treating painting and carving as separate processes, she brings the two together, allowing earlier colors to re-emerge through the finished surface.

“I paint over the surface dozens of times, and then carve through those layers using woodcut techniques,” Jiang said in an interview. For her, the accumulated colors carry memories and energy, while carving through them becomes a way of releasing what has been built up beneath the surface.

The process is closely connected to Jiang’s artistic background. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and currently teaches there. Having majored in woodblock printmaking at CAFA, Jiang combines the additive process of painting with the subtractive act of carving.

That relationship between accumulation and removal is also central to how Jiang thinks about time. “I place color into time, and with each incision I take time out again,” she writes in her artist statement.

Beyond technique, Jiang’s work draws on Chinese philosophical traditions and Taoist thought. Spirals, circular structures, tai chi, yin and yang, and ideas about the relationship between humanity and nature recur throughout her visual language. Her recent practice also explores broader themes of life, the universe, energy and transformation.

Jiang said she hopes her work can bring ideas of order and stability rooted in these traditions into a broader international context, sharing what she describes as “the beauty of inner order” with audiences beyond China.

The exhibition includes 16 works dating from 2023 to 2026 across several established series, including Mindfulness, Heavenly Eyes, Taoist Trinity and the Self, and Rebirth. The works include pieces on wood panel, acrylic relief and aluminum plate.

Lee said Jiang’s recurring spirals and circular structures reflect more than a recognizable visual style. She sees them as connected to the artist’s sustained engagement with Taoism, tai chi and Chinese philosophical thought, giving the works a visual language that can be approached through both their cultural references and their use of color, rhythm and form.

“This is a very important show for Jiang Miao and for the gallery,” Lee said. She added that she is optimistic about the future of artistic exchange between New York, China and the wider Asian art community, and hopes to bring more Chinese artists to New York.

Jiang’s exhibition forms part of Crossing Art’s long-running program of presenting artists from China and across Asia in New York. Founded in 2008, the gallery has organized more than 100 exhibitions and public art projects. It opened its Chelsea flagship in 2017 and later established a dedicated space in Shanghai, developing an ongoing program between the two cities.

Alongside its exhibition program, Crossing Art works with institutional and private collectors across the primary and secondary markets, advising on artist and market research, authentication, valuation, negotiation, and collection planning. Jiang Miao’s first solo exhibition in New York reflects the gallery’s broader approach: presenting artists with established practices in Asia to new audiences within New York’s contemporary art community.

Visitors at the opening also responded to the physical qualities of Jiang’s work. Shea said the amount of detail became particularly apparent when viewing the pieces up close.

“You can see the intricacy, the level of detail she’s put into all of these,” Shea said. “And they’re all just beautiful.”

Another visitor, Sana, said the exhibition felt particularly different in person because viewers could more fully see and feel the textures across the works.
With a practice already established through exhibitions and institutional collections across Asia, Jiang’s Chelsea presentation places her work within a new context and introduces her evolving visual language to New York audiences. For Crossing Art, the exhibition also continues its broader effort to build connections between artists in Asia and New York’s contemporary art community.

The Shape of Living Light runs through Oct. 3 at Crossing Art, 559 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Grace Ng
Eastern TV Broadcasting LLC
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