Faded II

Curator

Jonathan Thomson

Both “Faded II” and “Faded III” allude to the vast array of image manipulation technologies that are available to all of us on our smart phones. At the touch of a button we can apply filters that transform our photographs into something more vivid or monochrome, silvertone or noir. It is much more difficult to do that in paint. In the fifteenth century Renaissance the technique of grisaile - of executing a painting entirely in black-and-white and shades of grey - emerged as a way of blocking in shadows, highlights and contrasts before adding colour, and as a method of making a finished work of art. Xue uses it to great effect and in doing so invites us to study her work, and the effects of colour more closely.