JINGSHAN DING

Trained in both biology and art, my practice focuses on how living bodies and their surroundings interact over time. I work with traces such as animal footprints, plant cracks, and weathered surfaces. Small as they are, a single trace holds an entire system of contact and coexistence.
 
Once formed, a trace no longer belongs entirely to the body or the surface from which it emerged. It exceeds the moment of its formation and continues to gather animal movement, plant growth and weather shifts, developing a life of its own. Via continuous cycles of accumulating, disrupting, and reactivating paint, the traces emerge materially rather than simply being depicted, forming meticulous textures recalling fossil fragments and scar tissue. Through painting, the traces act as condensed records of hidden relations, transforming fleeting encounters into presences of weight, intimacy, and permanence.
 
My works invite viewers to move from the smallest trace to the wider ecology it opens onto, revealing urban space as a complex and dynamic field shaped by overlapping forces. To follow one trace closely, is to enter a whole world of interactions, adaptation and coexistence.



EDUCATION 2025          University of the Arts London, Camberwell College of Arts, London - MA Fine Art
2022         Imperial College London, London - BSc Biological Sciences  


SELECTED EXHIBITIONS2026         Upcoming: What Holds Us Together, Fitzrovia Quarter, London
                  Upcoming: One Artist. One Work. One Wall, Unit 1 Gallery, London
                  Roar, Swanfall Art Gallery, London
                  Residue, Hands-on Projects, London
                  Don’t Mirror Back, Koppel Collective, London
2025         TERRA, Apsara Studio, Burgundy
                  Un-palinodic Recurrence, Purist Gallery, London
                  Growing Sideways, SET, London
                  Behind the Closed Door, Safehouse, London
                  Gathering, The Bomb Factory, London
                  The Stone We Hold, 13B Gallery, Seoul
                  Nebulous, Purist Gallery, London
                  BayArt Open, BayArt Gallery, Cardiff
                  The Metamorphosis of SUHE HAUS, SUHE HAUS, Shanghai
                  Royal Watercolour Society Open, Royal Watercolour Society, London

SELECTED RESIDENCIES AND SHORTLISTS2026         Current: Fitzrovia Quarter Studio Residency, London
                  Shortlisted: General Assembly Gallery, Layers of London, London
                  Hands-on Projects Residency, London
2025         Shortlisted: Winsor & Newton x Paul Smith’s Foundation Art Prize, London
                  Selected: Grand Union Gallery x Bruntwood Artist Residency, Birmingham
                  Shortlisted: National Portrait Gallery Herbert Smith Freehills Award, London

SELECTED MEDIA COVERAGE2026         Asian Art Contemporary - Artist interview and feature
                    Contemporary British Painting - Artist feature  
                    Artisle China - Artist interview and feature  
2025         Speiro Projects - Artist feature                                          
                    The Art Newspaper France - Group exhibition review
                    FAD Magazine - Group exhibition review
                    GLASS Magazine China - Artist interview and feature                                                                              




Jingshan Ding - All rights reserved 2026