Approaching art as an emotional response, Jun Rui Lo’s work explores identity politics and the aesthetics of ambiguity.

As a non-binary individual from Hong Kong living and working in the United Kingdom, the interrogation of gender and cultural identities forms the foundation of Lo’s practice. Influenced by queer theory which advocates for gender and sexual non-conformity and freedom from normative tendencies, their work pursues the fluidity of identity and attempts to give tangibility to feelings of melancholy, alienation and rootlessness.

Lo’s practice revolves around emotionally charged drawings and sculptures. Employing flowing lines and forms animated by the freedom of identity fluidity, their work bears a sentimental undertone derived from deeply personal pain and struggle.

With a practice rooted in drawing and inspired by notions of material culture and object biography, Lo’s work uses everyday objects, books, keys,shoes and chairs, to accentuate their traces of usage and cultural connotations. Through exploring, transforming, and juxtaposing these found objects, Lo aims to construct allegorical narratives and scenes rooted in the emotional connections between them and humans.

Influenced by conceptual artist Félix González-Torres and slow cinema auteur Tsai Ming-liang., sharing a diasporic and homosexual identity, Lo’s works aim to be poetic yet political, personal yet universal. While their representations are never explicit, the subtlety and ambiguity embedded in the works seek to amplify their impact.

Private View Friday 07 Feb 6-9pm

06 Feb - 09 Mar 2025

Open Friday—Sunday 12—5pm

Haarlem Artspace Gallery

The Red Lion

Market Place

Wirksworth

DE4 4ET