Jiayi Gu/ Landscapes

Jiayi Gu was born in China and currently lives and works in London. Her practice revolves around image-making, extending across photography, installation, and the book form. Through these mediums, she explores the subtle dialogue between nature, humanity, and temporality. Gu’s work often begins with quiet observation—the stillness of a landscape, the trace of an object, or a fleeting encounter in the city. These moments become fragments of perception, reconfigured through images that oscillate between documentation and introspection. Her projects, such as Shifting Lines, Silent Peaks, and This Too Shall Pass, reflect on impermanence and the fragile relationship between the visible and the enduring. Working through image, material, and the spatial experience of perception, Gu investigates how time and attention shape the way we see. Her photographic and spatial works share a contemplative sensibility, creating spaces where stillness, change, and memory coexist in delicate balance.

‘’In Beyond the Blank, I capture urban and natural landscapes as they appear in everyday life, focusing on observation and attention rather than narrative. While the images are grounded in the visual reality of the scenes, I aim to reflect my own subtle engagement—a noticing of light, texture, and quiet moments that might otherwise go unseen. I avoid symbolic or narrative interpretation, allowing ordinary environments to reveal their own rhythms and atmospheres. Through this approach, I hope to convey a calm, contemplative sense of daily life’’.