Within the silence of the pavement, I see the lingering rhythm of countless crossings. I become increasingly interested in the threshold between significance and familiarity. Traces whose apparent modesty conceals a surprising density of experience and history continue to draw my attention. Across everyday urban life, distinctive traces emerge and persist. Through painting, these traces become records of coexistence and transformations.

On the still surface of the pavement, I sense the light wind, the moist air, and the quiet presence of life. This painting involves many challenges and breakthroughs, and has become an important turning point in my practice. It reveals the boundaries of my previous investigations, and at the same time opens new directions for future research. I am grateful to have reached this point during the residency, and excited to follow and explore where these new investigations lead.

As this painting develops, I think less about individual traces and more about the spaces where different forms of life intersect. Animal footprints, pavement fragments, and scattering petals exist not as separate elements but as part of an interconnected environment. Through painting these layered encounters, I am exploring how relationships emerge between humans, animals, cities, and the natural world, and how a sense of presence can be formed through these shared spaces.

The residency theme and our recent conversations have given me many inspirations. Alongside the natural forms and animal footprints that have long informed my practice, I have started incorporating more recognisable elements of urban pavements and city environments into my work. I am increasingly interested in how connections between humans, animals, cities, and nature shape our sense of belonging and existence. Through the traces left by these encounters, we may come to better understand both our own presence and our connection to others.

Jingshan Ding is a London-based artist trained in Biology at Imperial College London and Fine Art at University of the Arts London. Her interdisciplinary background places the iteration of life at the core of her painting practice. She approaches painting not as depiction, but as a living process through which she reimagines and experiences continual transformation. Through repeated cycles of building, scraping, and reapplying paint, meticulous textures resembling fingerprints, scars, and organic surfaces gradually emerge. Her practice explores how painting can embody processes of renewal, persistence, and change. Jingshan has been shortlisted for the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2025 at the National Portrait Gallery and the Winsor & Newton x Paul Smith Foundation Art Prize, and was selected for the Grand Union Gallery x Bruntwood Residency in 2025. She has exhibited internationally at Apsara Studio (Burgundy), Purist Gallery (London), Royal Watercolour Society, SUHE HAUS (Shanghai), 13B Gallery (Seoul), and BayArt (Cardiff). Website: https://jingshandingco.com Instagram: @shanshanshan