Oil and modeling paste on old funiture

204.5 x 97.5 x 10 cm. （A）； 26 x 65 x 45 cm. （B）80 1/4 x 38 3/8 x 3 7/8 in. （A）； 10 1/4 x 25 5/8 x 17 3/4 in. （B）

Signed in Chinese and English， dated on bottom right of the wooden door
LITERATURE
2007, With You, I'll Never Feel Lonely, China Youth Publishing Group, Beijing, p.2,3,7&8

EXHIBITED
3 – 12 Mar 2012, With You, I'll Never Feel Lonely, Today Art Museum, Beijing

PROVENANCE
26 Apr 2014, Christie's Shanghai Spring Auction, Lot 10
Private Collection, Asia

True story
Chen Ke's lonely travels
Chen Ke is a representative figure of the Cartoon Generation after the 1970s. Born in Tongjiang, Sichuan Province, she graduated first from the Affiliated Middle School of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and them from the same institute itself, where she obtained her master's. The total of 11 years she spent in the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute laid a solid foundation for her artistic creation. As an artist of the new generation, Chen has always been looking for ways to express her inner feelings in the context of the new era.
The clash of reality and fantasy in Chen Ke's works reveals the hidden emotions of modern society. In her creations, she uses a variety of media to construct rich, comprehensive stages on which she presents the lonely times she is most familiar with.
Chen Ke's works include paintings, sculptures, and installations. The image of a little girl is a common motif for her, as it represents both a projection of the artist's subjective consciousness and symbolizes contemporary human nature. Artists often use ordinary themes derived from everyday life to show their past selves. Although the surrounding environment has changed a lot, the little girl in Chen's works never grew up. She is immersed in a fairy tale, a fantasy world, and none of the viewers can bear to wake her up from this beautiful dream that they have all had.
Secluded soul: With You, I'll Never Feel Lonely
The series With You, I'll Never Feel Lonely comes from Chen Ke's solo exhibition of the same name held in StarGallery in 2007. The artist used the old-fashioned furniture of her childhood as creative media and applied modeling paste to its surface in an emotional, even violent way. Modeling paste is used as the base material for oil painting, and it has strong, adhesive properties. Here, thanks to the adhesiveness, it formed a unique texture on the surface of the furniture. The artist uses exteriors of old furniture such as flatbeds, wardrobes, and desks, endows them with emotions, and creates the depictions of the little girl, to whom the artist refers to as “little K”. In the narratives of Chen Ke's reality, “little K” has experienced the joys and sorrows of life. She is like an elf returning to childhood, quietly exploring the touching events of the past, and sighing about the time that has passed. This triggers the viewer's hope to return to childhood as she did.
The installation featured in this auction, belonging to the With You, I'll Never Feel Lonely series, was created from a door and a suitcase. Chen recreated the iconic image of the little girl on the mottled surface of the door. The rough shape of the modeling paste forms a strong visual contrast with the pure and fragile image of the little girl, allowing the viewer to unknowingly experience the sensorial transformation from rough to delicate. The suitcase on the side brings a nostalgic mood, as if it is just waiting for someone to pick it up and walk into the door to travel through time.

Price estimate:
HKD: 500,000 - 800,000
USD: 63,700 - 101,900

Auction Result:
HKD : 590,000