A Beautiful Haunting – A Solo Exhibition by Jolene Lai

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A Beautiful Haunting: A Solo Exhibition by Jolene Lai

An Evening
Oil on Wood Panel
2.5 by 2.5 inches each
2019

Insomnia
Oil on Wood Panel
2.5 by 2.5 inches each
2019

Somebody's Nobody House
Oil on Wood Panel
11 by 14 inches

2019

Away
Oil on Canvas
12 by 12 inches
2019

Habitat
Oil on Wood Panel
14 by 14 inches
2019

SD
Oil on Wood Panel
16 by 16 inches
2019

Heart Is Where The Home Is
Oil on Wood Panel
18 by 18 inches
2019

13th Hour
Oil on Canvas
18 by 24 inches
2019

Manifestation
Oil on Canvas
24 by 30 inches
2019

A Quiet Place
Oil on Canvas
24 by 30 inches
2019

Up
Oil on Canvas
24 by 30 inches
2019

Summoned
Oil on Canvas
24 by 30 inches
2019

Playboys
Oil on Canvas
30 by 40 inches
2019

Blind Horse (Study)
Graphite on Paper
4.375 by 6.25 inches
2019

Gate Keeper
Graphite on Paper
4.375 by 6.25 inches
2019

Oak House
Graphite on Paper
4.375 by 6.25 inches
2019

Gem
Graphite on Paper
4.375 by 6.25 inches
2019

SD (Study)
Graphite on Paper
4.375 by 6.25 inches
2019

My recent solo A Beautiful Haunting that debuted at Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles.

A Beautiful Haunting, September 14th - October 5th, 2019

"I especially enjoy exploring the neighborhood I live in during late hours. There is something enigmatic about seeing houses lit up, illuminated against the stark darkness that envelops them at this hour. It was on one of those sleepless nights that I was out exploring and capturing the beauty of the array of homes that came alive and lured me with their inviting lights, that I stumbled upon an unexplored street that was just around the corner. I remembered the air just beginning to build up a cloud of misty fog that was thick with the intense pungence of jasmine.

The seemingly long and unending street had no name. It was all at once foreign with rows of strange looking houses on either side, yet familiar because several of them I was certain existed on some other streets I had walked down before. There was even a bonsai tree I came across that was distinct in shape, and for which I was sure belonged to apartment 769 on Oak Street. The further I walked, the more surreal it became. It was as if someone had picked up the houses I have come to know and appreciate over time, and planted them between others that were alien to me.

The fog dissipated by the time I got to the end of the lonesome street. I proceeded to turn around the corner and left the street with no name, never once turning my head back. I was filled with a deep sense of comfort and relief as each and every shrub, tree and house I passed were once more familiar and in place again. I continued my night observations, but never did cross paths with that peculiar street again."

A Beautiful Haunting, is a new collection of artwork that is inspired by this extraordinary encounter from many years ago. I want to construct a plane where what is relatable and comforting to us, comes to merge with emotions of unfamiliarity and unsettlement. The collection largely draws influences from popular film culture and children fiction books that I have grown up watching, reading and have come to love. Naming a few that I have referenced are films such as Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, the original TV series The Twilight Zone and novels like Adventures of the Wishing Chair by Enid Blyton. I particularly wanted to focus on extracting interesting key characters and elements from each story that many have come to recognize as household names, and challenge myself to reiterate them by misplacing them in urban landscapes and comfortable nooks that I have handpicked from actual documentations of my explorations of the neighborhoods I have visited.

The collection consists of a body of eighteen oil paintings and intimate drawings, as well as a large scale paper installation, and is an invitation to everyone from all walks of life that appreciates the little discoveries of something peculiar in the normal ordinary everyday.