TongTong Deng
About
TongTong Deng is an illustrator and painter based in the UK and China. She uses dreamlike and poetic symbolism to depict subtle relationships between people. Her images wander between two positions: on the one hand, conveying specific emotions within their narratives; on the other hand, leaving space for the audience’s interpretation.
Education:
BA Illustration, Rhode Island School of Design (2018)
Experience:
Artist Prints / Aug 2020
(London, UK)
Series of limited edition prints
Designer / July 2020
(London, UK)
Homeware design collaboration with DeVeev
Exhibitions:
‘ Eat Drink Man Woman’ / Jun 2022 - July 2022
180 Strand (London, UK)
‘Slowness’ / Jan 2021- Jan 2022
12 hours exhibition space (Shanghai, China)
‘The Peach Series’ / Step 2017
ISB Gallery (Rhode Island , USA)
Statement
My working process usually starts with my archive of images by selecting those that speak to me, at a given time. I lay them out together and scrutinise them for a couple of minutes, until the floor and trees inside the images begin to shift, merge and change. When these shifts stop, I then record that new image.
Inside my book
The series “ Inside my book “ explores the relationship between the subconscious and memory through depictions of books, portraits of those close to me, and childhood experiences. These images are about repetition, meditation, and slowness. They appear calm, but at the same time powerful.
Medium: Pencil drawing, digital painting
Daydreaming
In the early stages of the lockdown, painting became a window that helped release my emotions. It was like finding a space to breathe. Mapped into my images are long hours spent at home alone; a process of dazed wandering, continuing even as time and space started to change.
I wish these images that healed me can also bring love and tranquility to others who need to find it.
Medium: Pencil drawing, digital painting