Shi Guowei
Manufactured Landscape

Through a hand-painting process, Shi Guowei created Manufactured Landscape. At first glance, the painting appears from afar as a landscape photograph. Yet, upon closer attention, the work reveals itself as a landscape painting thoroughly hand-colored by the artist onto a photograph. Contrasting with editing techniques of digital photography available today thanks to technology, this process of layering and color-saturation creates an ambiguous sense of time and space, rather than a realistic one. As a consequence, the landscape appears uncanny and almost threatening. In doing so, the work emphasizes the idea of “nature” as a constructed concept by men while fostering greater awareness of the role men play in shaping and destroying the natural world. The work also challenges traditional norms in landscape painting in China, which according to Chinese tradition, often rendered landscapes in the form of a vertical scroll rather than Shi Guowei’s horizontal or square work.