It was during the first months of the pandemic that human figures first began appearing in Russell Leng鈥檚 usually abstract paintings. 

Since then, the TWU Art + Design faculty member transitioned from abstraction to figuration art, and he is now displaying these latest works in an exhibit at the university leading up to Christmas.

Leng said "Thru u," his exhibition of new paintings that opened on Wednesday, Nov. 20, invites viewers to contemplate "our interconnectedness."

In 2020, his work shifted towards figuration and the intricate web of relationships that hold us together. Admittedly, this is a highly personal body of work represents a new direction for Leng. 

As people gazes at his new paintings, figures emerge from the highly textural surfaces 鈥� a hand, a head, a boot, a figure within a figure.

These indistinct and abstract figures surface and dissolve, intertwine and merge speaking to society's fundamental interconnectedness, said the sessional assistant professor, who joined TWU in 2015 鈥� the same year he was shortlisted for the RBC Painting Prize.

Leng explains that these paintings 鈥渆xplore where we begin and end in relation to one another鈥� and invite the viewer to contemplate 鈥渢he significance of the many subtle connections we share.鈥�

Less representations of actual bodies and more symbolic messenger figures, Leng hopes his abstracted bodies gesture to a more gentle and supportive way of being together.

"Amidst the tensions of global conflict, domestic politics and rising inequality," Leng鈥檚 wants the figures to offer a vision of "interconnection and interdependence that is a balm to our contemporary sense of alienation."

Gallery coordinator Alysha Creighton has been a fan of Leng's work for some time, and anxious to display his lastest creations.

鈥淚鈥檝e been watching this body of work develop for several years," she said. "I鈥檓 so excited to be able to present this soulful and visually rich body of work at the SAMC Gallery.鈥�

Leng鈥檚 exhibition, named for one of his first new pieces "Thru u," is on view at the School of the Arts, Media + Culture (SAMC) Gallery on Trinity Western University鈥檚 91原创 campus until Dec. 21. 

The exhibition and events are free and open to the public from Mondays to Thursdays 7:45 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fridays 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays 1:30 to 5 p.m.

There is also a Gallery coffee break being held on Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 10:30 to 11 a.m.