Wendy Jia
- May 15
- 3 min read
Wendy Jia is an abstract painter based in Vancouver, Canada. She was born in China, studied art and design, and completed postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom, where she also worked as a photographer. She paints with acrylic, ink and mineral pigments on raw canvas and ramie fabric, pouring and staining and layering. She works slowly, sometimes leaving a painting untouched for weeks and bringing it into her bedroom to live with it before going back in.
Q: Last time we spoke, you were moving toward more open, pared-back compositions. Tell us where you've landed.
A: As my practice has evolved, I’ve been drawn to a more open approach. I’m interested in creating quieter, more atmospheric spaces where elements can exist and interact in a more natural, intuitive way. It’s been a process of simplifying, while still building depth through layers and soft edges. The compositions feel more open now, yet they hold a quiet sense of depth that unfolds gradually.
Q: Where It Once Was is about returning to a place once deeply familiar. What's the story behind that piece?
A: Where It Once Was is inspired by a quiet, historic village in the Cotswolds that I first visited about 20 years ago, at the beginning of my adulthood, near the town where I lived in England. I remember the long summer days and slow pace of life, and I created an impressionistic painting of the Cotswolds after that trip, which I’ve kept ever since.
Two years ago, I returned and stayed in a 17th-century cottage. The village had hardly changed, but my life had become much faster-paced. Being there felt like stepping back in time and meeting my younger self.
This painting reflects that quiet return. There’s a subtle dissonance between past and present, a sense of recognition without fully belonging. It becomes a reflection on how places remain, while we encounter them anew.
Q: Your studio pace is very slow, sometimes you leave a painting untouched for days. What happens during that waiting time?
A: I try not to overwork a painting, but instead let it unfold naturally. During that waiting time, I often live with the piece, sometimes bringing it into my living room or bedroom, observing it quietly and building a connection with it during moments of rest.
I return to paint when something new begins to surface. There are also times when I step away completely, leaving a painting untouched for weeks. When I come back, I often see it with fresh eyes and a different emotional state, which can shift the direction entirely, sometimes even moving far beyond my initial plan.
Q: Held In Haze, Softly, It Returns, The Feeling of.... How do those titles come, and at what point in the painting?
A: Many of the titles come from songs, lyrics, or poems that I’m reading or hearing at the time, phrases that stay with me and resonate with what I’m trying to express in the work.
The titles usually emerge quite intuitively, often during or after the painting process, when something in the piece and the words naturally align.
Q: The new work goes from warm earthy tones to very deep, almost nocturnal blues. Are you painting different moods, or is it one long conversation?
A: I enjoy having variety across each series of work. The shifts in tone often come from different moods and states of mind. I’m also quite sensitive to light; my emotions tend to shift with it, from early morning light to sunset and into night. The deeper blues often appear later in the day, when things feel quieter and more inward.
Q: Where do you see your work going from here?
A: I’ll continue exploring layers and new colour palettes. I’m still very drawn to fluid, organic elements in my painting, and that sense of movement will always stay central to my work. I also plan to experiment more with different surfaces, including ramie fabric and paper, to see how each material shifts the way the work is experienced.
