Han FenG

The Gift

Well known for her costume and fashion design for opera, Han Feng had never used a camera before the pandemic. When international travel halted her work in Shanghai and Europe in 2020, she quarantined in her Midtown loft and gave herself a creative assignment: to explore the art of still life at night with her new Hasselblad. The rich archival pigment prints on view capture Han Feng’s love of theater on an intimate scale.

During lock down Han Feng was inspired by her ventures out to nearby flower markets and Chinatown in search of subject matter. Returning home, she choreographs arrangements to be photographed each night. Staging delicate dramas on her Chinese table with fresh produce and her contemporary ceramic vessels she balances form, color, and texture with precious little light. Exploring the historical tradition of still life in which familiar objects are juxtaposed with food in metaphysical arrangements, Han Feng’s compositions also preserve a moment in time. Grateful for the unforeseen two years at home, and the inspiration she found with the camera, Han Feng calls this series The Gift.

Han Feng’s clothing, design, and art installations have been featured in major exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Neue Galerie and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, among others. She lives and works in New York and Shanghai.