Contemporary ARTIST Ying Dai

Dai Ying is a cross-media artist born in Sichuan, China, and based between Beijing and New York.

Born on Mount Emei in Sichuan Province, Dai Ying began studying traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting at the age of five. The essence of traditional Chinese culture has continuously shaped her artistic creation and philosophy. After pursuing advanced studies at Tsinghua University, she systematically mastered Western painting techniques. As a result, her works integrate abstract Western approaches — including oil painting techniques, color blocks, and geometric forms — with the subtlety and restraint of Eastern art.

Visitors are greeted by ink-wash Rubik’s Cubes of varying colors, sizes, forms, and orientations, arranged and combined in diverse formations. Though seemingly abstract and disorderly, they possess an inherent rhythm.

On her understanding of the Rubik’s Cube, Dai Ying states:
“What makes a Rubik’s Cube what it is lies in its magical quality and inherent uncertainty. All visible cube-like substances undergo transformative changes because of the enchanted soul within them.”