At the Gentle Edge: Qingyuan Liang’s Inner Cosmos

Illustrator and visual storyteller Qingyuan Liang presented her solo exhibition Intimate Cosmos: Mapping the Tender Space in London from 17 to 23 November 2025. This exhibition constituted a transient inner space: upon entering, visitors are not required to ‘understand’ anything but gradually realize they are being invited into an intensely private, quiet but authentic emotional world.

The Installation view of ‘Intimate Cosmos: Mapping the Tender Space’ in London

Liang’s practice centers on those ineffable sensations and how they leave traces within the body. Through hand-drawn works, fabric collages, paintings, and spatial installations, she constructs an honest retrospective. Her pieces often convey, at a profound level, an acknowledgement of vulnerability, an understanding of attachment, and a patient contemplation of uncertainty.

Installation view of ‘Intimate Cosmos: Mapping the Tender Space’ in London

The exhibition’s most significant piece is the fabric narrative work A Lion Wants a Hug. A small lion journeys through the process of seeking a hug. This simple-seeming story conceals profound psychological motivation. It speaks of ‘seeking love’ and how a person learns to believe: their emotions are worthy of being held. Fabric becomes pivotal to this work, soft, prone to wear, always wrapped around form. In this piece, the fabric transcends materiality, functioning more as an emotional skin.

Installation view of ‘Intimate Cosmos: Mapping the Tender Space’ in London

The work develops as a space installation, inviting viewers to step into the story instead of only standing outside observing it. In this process, the viewer gradually realizes that the embrace we seek does not always come from others; sometimes it resides within our relationship with ourselves. This is not a tale of growth or triumph, but an unfulfilled psychological journey.

The two paintings in this exhibition, Forest Zoo and Bringing the Olive Branch, reveal another facet of Liang Qingyuan’s visual language. Forest Zoo articulates an almost defensive imagination: nature, animals, and stars assemble into an idealized space, akin to a self-constructed sanctuary. Bringing the Olive Branch, inspired by her reading of Once Upon a Country: My Palestinian Life, avoids political imagery, instead interpreting ‘peace’ as a private state of being.

Installation view of ‘Intimate Cosmos: Mapping the Tender Space’ in London

This exhibition does not construct a dreamlike realm but reminds us that our inner worlds are inherently fragile and unstable but deserving of earnest attention. Through her art practices, Qingyuan Liang provides a means to reconnect with those unresolved yet enduring fragments within us.