‘残留样本’— 汪海凝
The viscous contents of cosmetic products — gels, emulsions, creams — are suspended in resin plaques, freezing the substances between state-change. Pigments and textures stratify unpredictably into drifting terrains that evoke geological cross-sections and microbial blooms.
These plastic reliefs preserve the traces of touch: the smear of foundation, the lather of shampoo, the absorption of serum, yet the abject body remains absent. Thousands of carefully extracted active ingredients react, expire, and mold, collapsing into synthetic deposits without an organism to act upon.
The rituals of personal maintenance manifest here as abstract portraits of anxiety and aspiration — each consumer choice adds to a complex personalized recipe that addresses ever-growing needs. Each plaque becomes a fossilized specimen of the commodified present, crystallizing its desires into material form.
Haining Wang was born in New York and works in Beijing. She received a B.A. from Yale University in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and an M.A. from the Royal College of Art in Contemporary Art Practice. Influenced by her previous career in investment banking and private equity, Haining’s work considers the politics of power, hierarchy, and desire in the context of global capitalism.
Haining’s practice incorporates the absurdity and contradiction in her business experience to reexamine the roles of consumers and producers in the contemporary arenas of exchange. Her work engages with the politics of commodity culture with a focus on material surface – the intersection between subjects and objects, commodities and bodies, intimacy and trace.
Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Saatchi Gallery and Tate Modern as part of Tate Lates. She is the 2023 Global winner and Asia winner of the Saatchi Art for Change Prize. Her work is included in important personal collections, such as the Uli Sigg Collection.
Selected Exhibitions
2025
Day to Night, Today x Wangshikuo Foundation Public Art Project,
Today Museum, Beijing
Z Generation of Third Culture, Soul Art Center, Beijing
Art Basel Hong Kong, DonGallery Booth, Hong Kong
2024
To the Things Themselves, Don Gallery HAI500 Space, Shanghai
Palai Penang, The Homestead Residency, Penang
Art for Change Prize Finalists Exhibition, Saatchi Gallery, London
