The trails of watercolour form an amorphous mass upon the surface of the paper, mimicking the effect of a heavy downpour on one's vision. However, one is still able to make out the rough forms of Deng Cheng Wen's signature figures - who trudge onwards with hands concealing each of the eyes of the people before them. Placed in the context of a thunderstorm, their situation is all the more pitiful and the lack of direction is made more apparent. One wonders about the future of this lost generation of Chinese youth, who are trapped within the confinements of societal expectations and follow along for fear of judgment and critique.
He paints the faces of his university friends in his series, ‘The Lightness of Seeing’.
