BARS IN BEIJING, 2019 - 2023
Bars and clubs, as social venues, served as melting pots where class, gender, and sexual identities intermingled, facilitating human liberation.
These spaces fostered a diverse array of individuals, social behaviors, and intimate interactions, offering countless opportunities for connection. They provided recognition and acceptance of our unique qualities and identities, allowing for the pursuit of freedom and the formation of new, chosen families.
This journey, from social isolation to a sense of belonging, was also a gradual transformation of social identity for many, including myself, both as an individual and as an artist.
QUEENIE'S IS BURNING
digital painting
This piece offers visual cues of multiple cultures and social differences. QS it's a place also known for late nights of debauchery with lost items and queer night on every Wednesday. It’s a cacophony of fun, playfulness, messiness and drama. The lively world of Queenie’s Bar in Beijing, a place where we looked for liberation and human interaction during the years of the pandemic in Beijing, when most of the bars and clubs were compelled to shut down, while QS was one the fews that was secretly openning by disgusing itself as a diner... QS is also a melting pot that serves as a place of social interaction, a place in which you learn how to function within a particular culture. Each conversation, be it with someone you end up picking up or with someone you don’t want to pick up, or with someone you see every time you go there and end up getting to know(but without knowing much about them), QS is the fabric made of People who share cultural and social differences. The painting is reminiscent of a theatrical night filled with chaos, the fun moments we find, the belonging to those who have visited this social meeting place, and where the dancing queens want to stay.
MODERNISTA
digital painting
This piece depicts Modernista Bar in Beijing, China, capturing the avant-garde and rebellious spirit of those who sought to express themselves during the pandemic. It represents the third chapter in the journey of young people, particularly queer individuals, who moved to the big city. This chapter portrays their search for and discovery of communities and chosen families, where they ultimately found a sense of social belonging and individual identity.
FIRST FLOOR
digital painting
This painting portrays the Bar, First Floor, in Beijing, China, a social hub integral to the growth trajectories of many residents and former residents of the city. Unfortunately, this beloved venue has been closed due to the pandemic. Additionally, this piece illustrates the second chapter in the journey of young adults as they navigate life in a bustling metropolis. It captures a phase marked by the loss of intimate relationships and the search for personal connections amidst the city's vastness.
LA SOCIAL
digital painting
The painting depicts Bar La Social in Beijing, China, and the looming uncertainty of the future amidst the dehumanizing restrictions being implemented. Young people, especially queer individuals, moved to the big city in search of support and a sense of meaning for their unique identities, striving to create a world of their own. It was a time of great restriction, where the freedom to express oneself was severely curtailed.