R6.  SHENG QI (b 1965)

Dalai Lama & My left hand  2006 

Acrylic on canvas (2 paintings) 
60 x 50 cm each


After the Tiananmen Square massacre, Sheng Qi removed the little finger of his left hand, buried it in a flower pot and embarked on a decade of self-imposed exile. He completed a masters degree at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design in London and established a reputation as performance artist, painter and photographer before returning to Beijing. His mutilated hand, symbolizing disappearance as experience, has become central to his art, a constant reminder of China’s troubled history.