La Prairie unveils its first collaboration with a Chinese artist at the West Bund Art & Design fair in Shanghai, where Ding Yi’s new work Above the Time is revealed at the La Prairie lounge. The immersive installation creates the sensation of being in an infinite universe, where an ending point becomes a starting point, shifting visitors’ perception of time and being. The past, present and future simultaneously expand in all directions, extending the traditional paradigm of the linearity of time.
Ding Yi’s works brings together his reflections on time, nature, the world, and the relationship between image and spirituality. Images rich in rationality exist in harmony with his explorations on sensibility in his works, imbuing them with a unique tension. Over the past decade, Ding Yi has been in a creative phase he termed “looking upwards”, seeking to “look at the sky and the wider world from a higher perspective”. In his paintings, Ding Yi shows an outstanding ability to create an atmosphere, despite their two-dimensional nature. For his collaboration with La Prairie, Ding Yi has created a singular masterpiece featuring his iconic style combined with a unique optical structure and video images.
This new work presents new perspectives on Ding Yi’s practice - both literally and figuratively - to audiences. The delicate balance in the images evokes the vastness of the universe, a boundless realm holding infinite possibilities for the interpretation of time and existence – above the time lies eternity.
