The Shape of living light

Jiang miao’s first solo exhibition in new york

September 3, 2026 - October 3, 2026

Artist: Jiang Miao

Location: Crossing Art, 559 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 13, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

New York, NY—Crossing Art is pleased to present The Shape of Living Light, Jiang Miao’s first solo exhibition in New York and her first major presentation in the United States. On view from September 3 through October 3, 2026, the exhibition features a new body of paintings that grow from the artist’s sustained attention to time, material, and light.

Jiang Miao begins each painting by applying layer after layer of acrylic to wood panel, allowing the paint to settle over days and weeks in response to the changing light and atmosphere of the studio. The surface grows dense and complex. Only later does she take up her carving tools, cutting back into the accumulated strata to release earlier passages of color and allow light to emerge from within. Every painting carries forward the memory of its own making, with each stage of layering and carving remaining active in the finished work.

Jiang has described this process in direct terms: “I place color into time, and with each incision I take time out again.” The paintings carry this dialogue with temporality forward. In these new works, circular structures rise, dissolve, and re-form across densely worked surfaces. Finely incised lines generate shifting rhythms that appear to pulse with an inner luminosity. The paintings evoke cells, flowers, galaxies, and microscopic worlds, their forms shifting and breathing with the viewer’s gaze. They exist between observation and sensation, where meaning continues to move as one looks.

Her practice is deeply informed by Eastern philosophy and long-term meditative discipline. Through sustained self-inquiry, she explores the inner movements of energy and the larger cycles of transformation that connect the self to nature and the cosmos. Layers of paint accumulate, disappear beneath new surfaces, and reappear through carving, preserving every stage of the painting’s evolution. Each work moves through continual cycles of layering, carving, concealment, and revelation, allowing time to become visible within the finished surface.

Light plays a central role in these paintings. It emerges through accumulated layers of paint, carved lines, and subtle shifts in color, becoming embedded in the material structure of the work. As viewers move before the paintings, surfaces shift in depth, rhythm, and luminosity, revealing changing relationships between color, texture, and space. The Shape of Living Light reflects this ongoing interaction between material, light, and perception.

With The Shape of Living Light, Crossing Art introduces Jiang Miao to American audiences. Although her work has been exhibited extensively across Asia, this marks her first solo presentation in New York. Her paintings are held in the collections of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Beijing, the Today Art Museum, and numerous private collections throughout Asia. Through her distinctive process of layer-by-layer accumulation and transformation, Jiang Miao continues to expand the possibilities of contemporary abstraction.

About the Artist

Jiang Miao

Born in China, Jiang Miao received her Bachelor’s degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2005 and her Master’s degree from the same institution in 2009. She currently teaches at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Her artistic practice has long been rooted in a profound sensitivity toward ancient civilizations and advanced forms of wisdom, as well as an ongoing exploration of the universe and the essence of life. Since 2003, she has focused on investigating the relationships between black and white, Yin and Yang, points and lines, energy, and the interpretation of life. Through this process, she has developed a distinctly Eastern cosmological perspective based on the concept of the unity between humanity and nature. In recent years, Jiang Miao’s works have centered on the themes of life and the universe. Her compositions incorporate symbols such as the “Bagua” (Eight Trigrams), the spiritual symbol "Xuan", and vibrant colors that represent the release of energy. Through these visual elements, she explores the truth and interconnectedness of spirit, soul, and body. Her works absorb energy from the intangible realm and transmit it into the material world, creating a spiritual field and offering reflections on the continuation and future development of human civilization in an increasingly material-driven world.

Contact: jun@crossing-collective.com