HOW THINGS HOLD: Ana Benavides, Effie Wanyi Li, Si On, Dan Rees and Jana Schröder

T293 is thrilled to present How Things Hold, a group exhibition delving into the depths of the human psyche. Featuring works by Ana Benavides, Effie Wanyi Li, Si On, Dan Rees and Jana Schröder, this curated selection aims to explore the intricacies of proximity and balance as fundamental aspects of life and existence. Each artwork coexists and explores potential affinities, simultaneously embodying its own distinctive, unrepeatable, and vibrant inner life energy while becoming a prosthetic extension of the artist's psyche. Coherence and coexistence intertwine, akin to a subtle exchange of glances, through the juxtaposition of colors, geographies, and time.

Ana Benavides' works exude a profound emotional intensity, captivating the viewer upon initial encounter. This distinctive attribute arises from the artist's unique methodology, employing intuitively constructed brushstrokes brimming with emotional potency. Through a profound exploration of her psyche and ancestral lineage, Benavides imbues her works with a profound resonance to the human condition, summoning recollections of her untamed surroundings and the resplendent natural landscapes that nurtured her upbringing.

Jana Schröder's artistic practice is driven by a balance between conscious intention and serendipity, questioning the validity of traditional painting gestures. Within her creative process, things start brutishly, and each subsequent decision narrows down and becomes more intentional. Upon closer inspection, the materiality of the paint and the deliberate yet gentle movements of the brushstrokes are unveiled. Each mark on the canvas registers the artist's bodily presence during the productive moment, enabling viewers to establish a tangible intimacy with the artist. This specific relationship between ever-changing temporality and structured spatial order is reflected in all of her paintings.


Dan Rees presents a new body of work that harnesses marbling techniques, often associated with childhood art, hobbies, and the art of handcrafted bookmaking. Inherently capricious, marbling as a technique bestows upon Rees's works a captivating visual distinctiveness permeated with an air of unpredictability and subconscious allure. While Dan's works may be traceable to the abstract school, gestural automatism, and pictorial spontaneity, they also delve into the memory of human beings and psychic layering, referencing the mind as explored through psychoanalysis.

Effie Wanyi Li, is a sculptor and painter based in London, in these works, she explores body-mind relations. Through painting, she aims to visualize the subtle interactions and movements that occur within the physical space of the body, caused by intangible emotions and sensations. By capturing these nuances, she is willing to shed light on the complex interplay between actions and thouhgts, which is often overlooked or taken for granted. While observing these paintings, the viewers might contemplate their own bodily experiences and start a journey toward self-exploring.

Si On's works emerge from a flurry of impassioned gestures, enriched by uncannily fluorescent colors, sometimes arranged in a glorious rainbow. They depict a face that is simultaneously terrifying and tragic, morbid and monstrous. It is as though she performs the paintings with her body, throwing herself into them completely, as their richly material and bizarrely organic, sensually excited surface suggests. All of Si On's paintings are demonic masterpieces. Above all, her phantom face personifies the daemonic, brought to full aesthetic consciousness and experienced directly rather than as an unconscious enigma.