Energy in Eastern philosophy is understood as a subtle, vital force that flows through the universe, the body, consciousness and nature. It is a dynamic, interconnected and transformative force that animates life, emphasising balance between opposing forces to achieve harmony and enlightenment. Inside the carefully curated space of the exhibition “In Between”, such energy is experienced on a mental, sensory and bodily level, individual artworks bouncing off each other across the room and empowering the viewer of the exhibition. ZHANG Hailun, the curator of the exhibition, whose research focuses on the impact of Eastern philosophy on contemporary art and who believes in the interconnection of all things, finds for instance harmony between natural organisms, such as the ones found in Ana Beatriz Fernandez’s drawing “Where are my Keys?”, and machines and computational art. Examples of this in the exhibition include: B Keun Min’s robot-like “Ephemeral Pulse”, Gabriele Franco’s interactive light sculpture “A|letheia” and CHEN Yun’s dreamlike oil paintings, entitled “Motion Artifact”, “Fall Over” and “Lightweight”, that have used AI and computer games in their making. Also believing in “harmony across difference”, ZHANG Hailun has indeed succeeded in creating a dialogue which could not be richer or more fruitful. In order to do so, she has purposefully chosen an extremely wide range of artists in terms of artistic research interests, cultural backgrounds and the media they use in their artworks, from traditional painterly and sculptural material, photography and digital printing to embroidery, lampworking glass jewellery and an unusual array of mixed media, such as artist’s dyed hair, kumkum and ash.
With the notion of the “social and cultural responsibility of art” at the core of ZHANG Hailun’s curatorial practice and methodology, the exhibition, the first in this specific space, echoes the collective spirit and “core values of kindness, mutual respect and support” encouraged by the Kindred Studios of which it is a part. A non-profit making organisation, the studios also hosts a very diverse and committed group of hundreds of artists. With ZHANG Hailun’s curatorial vision, the exhibition becomes a microcosm of this whole ecosystem, “inspiring others to be part of a more connected and caring society”. Through careful selection, ZHANG Hailun brought together artists who studied in a range of well-known art schools, such as Goldsmiths, the Slade, the Royal College of Art and UAL, but also self-taught artists and artists from the local community. In addition to this conversation between the local community and a more global perspective, ZHANG Hailun focused on emerging artists for their fresh, energetic attitude to their living environment and their ambition to show the world in a new light via very recent artworks and a wide scope of artistic research interests. These, I think, include the ambivalence between nature and technology, the ramifications of slavery and colonialism, questions about identity construction and associated messages of resilience, the notions of beauty and language in contemporary art, and Eastern philosophical concepts.
With her “Made in Love” embroidered inscription, Ankita Kashyap’s “I Want to Become Your Shirt”, a white shirt made of rice paper with buttons formed by twirled artist’s dyed hair, seems to comment poetically on the provenance of clothing materials and working conditions in the textile industry. Nearby, at the intersection of two windows, woven into one of the exhibition’s many layered narratives, Patrícia Tavares’s work is also a feminist reflection on women’s identity within patriarchal society. In the context of globalisation, Samuel Olowomeye’s “Spoon-Feed” oil frontal portrait of a black woman’s face also explores, but in a different context, “the intersection of the Nigerian experience and global survival”, as well as the role of women in traditional societies. Also a gesture of reverence towards previous generations and an act of remembrance, Mohini Kaur “I use my hands to press your feet; a bed of blessings”, is a pair of brass feet filled with kumkum, a sacred red powder used in Hindu rituals, symbolising prosperity, auspiciousness and energy. “It invokes the imagined presence of ancestral feet, formed through repeated imprints of the artist’s own hands” in order to maintain continuity between generations. In a supposedly post-colonial world in which we can pretend exploitation has finally ended, we can see how this ambivalence between the western make-belief and the reality of the global south could seat uneasily with descendants of those countries which have been colonised but live in the generally more privileged west. Such ambivalence can adopt different forms depending on the economic, social and cultural context in which one tries to build a nourishing life. While the tension in the rod in Liszu Tan’s installation “Home Starter” reflects the experience of fragility as an immigrant from Malaysia and adapting period following the four seasons, the embroidered acrylic painting “Domestic Myths” by Anna Samoylova, explores her family history and memory, as well as the mental charge of women who attempt to reconcile motherhood and responsibilities at home with personal fulfilment, while bearing witness to the resilience of those who navigate this tension with quiet strength.
Installation view. Photograph by Jayko Gao, courtesy of Symphōnia Art
Amidst those potent, crucial questions, the viewer of “In Between” can find strong messages of resilience through the exploration of one’s personal mental health or one’s positioning within the public sphere. On the one hand, YANG Xiao’s triptych “Soft Vessels”, representing delicate fragments of the body enclosed within pearl and gemstone-like forms in soft pastels and coloured pencils, explores the impact of trauma and emotional memory on the body and intimate relationships, and how such understanding can effect change. On the other hand, Selin Soylu’s colourful series of acrylic paintings depicting women’s shoes, socks and calves in the London underground system alludes to strong female personalities and assertiveness in a public space in a subtle and humoristic way. Similarly, Sloane Warren’s “Tit’s Up”, a highly experimental chemigram made from body prints, using real and symbolic substances, such as dried milk, moisturiser, body oil and Voltarol gel, reflects the female experience in middle-age, especially the still taboo natural processes, and often lonely journeys, of the menopause and ageing. Another artist who “explores the tension between the promise of potential and the reality of life’s complexities, fostering [positive] introspection about our individual journeys” is SUN Mingzhang. In the poetically titled oil painting “A Brighter Summer Day”, he innovatively uses the folds of the fabric as a media, revealing, despite the constraint of red rope, a resilience that resonates as both a personal and collective symbol, echoing broader questions of identity, belonging and emancipation. It is “a metaphor for personal growth, urging viewers to confront their struggles while nurturing hope and renewal.”
Sometimes, however, sheer beauty and the meticulous exploration of sculptural, painterly or photographic material and language, are the stimuli that one needs to feel uplifted and inspired on one’s life’s journey. Poppy Lennox’s “A Collective Sentience”, an upside-down conic sculpture made of pure silk and salvaged metal, and “The Beginnings of Understanding”, a thread of pure silk that has been woven into a circle around which liquid rust has been applied, are just exquisite in their subtly of materials and creative process, and are forms of pure beauty. While in “Timepiece”, Maeve Gillespie uses discarded materials, such as pocket watch parts, broken jewellery and buttons, “elevating these once forgotten materials to intricate materials through the labour of embroidery”, Monica Perez’s stunning “COST. HELD”, a surface of linen onto which has been applied bone pigment and gelatine, “expands and contracts like a diaphragm” and attracts the viewer into the slow revelation of its making process in an uncanny way. Similarly, Meghan Josephine’s oil painting “Rest – Reclining Pair” shows a couple mysteriously emerging from a sea of red paint. Consisting of eleven digital prints on canvas, LIU Zongyao’s “There will be song” “references three abstract paintings by Stanley Whitney, translating and re-configuring [via technology], across different scales and media, their language of colour-block visual units” to include the inside and outside of the building environment. “Through this process, the work examines the notion of artistic sublimity and reconsideration of the relationship between art, [the mechanisms of perception] and aesthetic value.” In the print “Zodiac Series: Horse”, Zhang Tao applies to his contemporary works his life-long knowledge and experience of Chinese characters which he has acquired through the practice of ancient calligraphy and seal carving. Bearing in mind that Chinese script is an ideographic writing system (the representation of ideas or objects directly through graphic symbols, ideograms, rather than through words or sounds), his practice unfolds as a process of deconstruction and reconstruction of image and sign, where Chinese characters are reconfigured into a distinct visual form and vocabulary.
As mentioned in the introduction, the flow of energy is central to Eastern philosophy, and this is perfectly encapsulated by ZHANG Qinyuny’s Triptych “Vessels of the Mind (Withering, Growing, Flourishing)”, which creates a close interaction between nature and body. Despite being made of watercolour and coloured pencils, it draws on elements of Chinese shanshui painting, a traditional Chinese painting style focusing on natural landscapes and deeply rooted in Taoist and Confucian philosophies. Other artworks in the exhibition echo eastern philosophical principles and the living environment. For instance, Xin Yue’s lampworking glass handmade jewellery represents aerial creatures inspired by Eastern myths in which human beings, animals and deities are fundamentally equal, and as such, questions the hierarchy between different living beings at the centre of Western culture to suggest the possibility of another, more respectful world of our living environment. Not only a comment on “the humorous absurdity of labour” and ”a reimagining of our ancestral labour”, Emma Louise Moore’s interactive installation “The Gwendolines” is also a play upon materiality, in which what the brain understands as heavy is experienced by the hand as light. According to ZHANG Hailun, the curatorial vision of the exhibition draws from her research into the connections between Eastern and Western philosophy. Central to this is the understanding that everything is interconnected and interdependent, and that the definition of any relative state is inseparable from one’s chosen frame of reference. Conceptual thought, in this view, imposes limitations on our perception: what appears impossible shifts when one transcends dualistic thinking. This, according to ZHANG Hailun, can be transformed into inspiration for the public and a vehicle for the therapeutic dimension of art.
More generally, the exhibition’s spatial arrangement into a site-specific installation using the distinct features of the space, such as the windows, columns and different vertical layers in the wall, echoes the Chinese philosophical concept of feng shui, which aims to harmonise this energy in the environment. To weave this environment into a coherent whole, ZHANG Hailun draws upon a deeply interdisciplinary practice that integrates philosophical inquiry, literary narrative, and an acute understanding of spatial dynamics and structure. It is through this curatorial methodology that each work is afforded a richer conceptual and poetic resonance, while all works sound together in harmony, rendering the exhibition an organic whole: an unfolding symphony, charged with philosophical depth, that invites reflection and harmony across difference, and becomes a source of inspiration for the public.” It thus makes sense that the exhibition is a special edition of her SYMPHŌNIA exhibition series, which Greek spelling emphasises its etymology and meaning: combining syn- (“together”) and phōnē (“voice” or “sound”), the term encapsulates the notion of “a concord of different notes”, or ”sounding together”, or “harmony”. Interestingly, Helen, who I regard as the most gentle of warriors in contemporary art, considers all forms of limitation, whether constraint, restraint or plain hindrance, to be also a part of this transformative resonance, as through resistance, they “re-adjust and become a new harmony”. As the exhibition offers, for both artists and viewers, the possibilities of a broad, personal human experience involving a diversity of meaning and purpose, one can see how, in the eyes and words of ZHANG Hailun, “art is a form of spirituality” with the possibility to transform.
Text by Dr. Caroline Perret
Published on 23rd April 2026
More about Dr. Caroline Perret
Dr. Caroline Perret completed her PhD in Social Art History at the University of Leeds in 2008 with a dissertation titled “Dubuffet, Fautrier, and Paris under the Occupation and in its Aftermath: A Study in the Visual and Textual Ideology of Matter.” Following this, she worked as a Research Associate for the Group for War and Culture Studies at the University of Westminster, where she investigated the impact of war on cultural production in the historical, political, social, and cultural contexts of WWI, WWII, and beyond in Britain, France, and other regions. She is now an independent scholar and art critic, with a particular focus on modern and contemporary art, illustrated books, films, literature, and poetry.
More about ZHANG Hailun, the curator
Since 2024, ZHANG Hailun has developed Symphonia, an ongoing series of curatorial projects. The first edition, Prelude in Asylum, was a site-specific exhibition held in the Grade II listed Asylum Chapel, exploring art’s capacity for spiritual guidance and social healing. The second, Tempolumen Rhythmos, created in collaboration with the non-profit organisation ASC, examined the theory of gallery space and power, and the nature of awareness and how it shapes our perception of ourselves, the world and our relationships with others. In Between is the inaugural exhibition of Next of Kin Gallery at Kindred Studios, a unique non-profit creative community in London, and forms a special chapter within the Symphonia Series. This June, Kindred Studios will launch its Open Studios as part of Kensington & Chelsea Art Week Fringe 2026, for which Web of Life serves as both the overarching theme and the title of the main exhibition, curated by ZHANG Hailun. The event will bring together over 300 artists from one of London’s largest creative communities. Guided by her vision of building harmony across difference, and through her research-led curatorial methodology, ZHANG Hailun continues to advance her social and cultural mission.
