Windows / Volcanos Series

Windows from My Residence in La Défense 1, oil on canvas, 2019

Windows in Ivry sur Seine, oil on canvas, 2024

Windows in La Défense 2, oil on canvas, 2019

I began this series in 2019 in trying to capture these windows, these silent “volcanos”. The sudden suicide of a young neighbor who jumped his Paris window in 2015 affected me, and made me think of the estrangement of people in urban spaces.

In November 2020, I went to China for the final field research of my doctorate, continued my series in my hometown of Shanghai. After locked down in Paris in 2020 over Covid, I was eager to connect with the life of the people in Shanghai when I returned. Over my stay, I hoped to capture the neighborhood of my childhood and temperature of every window.

Liwei Xu, Windows in My Lane, oil on canvas, 2021

Moon box, oil on canvas and digital tools, 2021