Wenji Billow’s “Dancing in the Wind”

Date:October 16, 2011
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Category:Uncategorized
Wenji Billow's "Dancing in the Wind"
In her work, “Dancing in the Wind” 風中者舞, artist Wenji Billow 文姬 creates a serene image of two pregnant women who appear to float within a smoky landscape.  It is as if she has infused a traditional Chinese landscape painting with the beauty of the human form.  The bodies of the pregnant women are pink and full of life as they dance among trees, grasses, rocks, hills, skies and little homes.  They help us to visualize the vital energy inherent in the pregnant body.

Wenji, who has three daughters, speaks peacefully and beautifully of her own pregnancies: “I always felt a strong happiness inside me, I felt that the happiness was just like a song or a dance.  When I carried my big tummy while painting, I felt I was in a forest, a calmness around me, no one there but my baby and me.”

 Raised in a traditional Chinese family, Wenji Billow was born in Guangxi.  She learned Chinese painting techniques as a university student in the Department of Fine Arts of Guangxi Normal University, becoming a professional painter when she moved to Hong Kong with her family.  In the creation of her art, Wenji primarily works with ink, pigment and rice paper, as well as oil on canvas.  Although she often uses traditional Chinese materials, however, Wenji considers her art to be part of a Chinese painting that is modern and not traditional. 

Wenji’s work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and has been published in magazines and books related to Chinese art.  She currently lives with her family in Göteborg, Sweden.  More of Wenji’s work may be seen at Saatchi Online.  She may be reached at: wenjibillow@gmail.com.