Larger than life portraits and paintings that develop into sculptures from her warehouse space.

We spent a morning with Tanya Ling exploring her current solo show “We Have Life” on view at her studio, a warehouse in the outskirts of London. Though it’s colossal dimensions were at first unwelcoming, it’s about the most vivid studio I’ve ever been to. The industrial space is surrounded by white and grey electric tubes and sockets, establishing an atmosphere of movement and energy. The floors are subtly dotted with paint drips, and the walls are layered with stencil-looking like colour marks, making visible stains where previous paintings used to hang. Depictions of horses are portrayed on canvas, while a white site-specific horse portrait made of washing-powder is installed on the entrance floor. Ironically, water was dripping through the ceiling holes, making the work bubble as a reaction to this dripping, somehow ‘killing’ the life of this motionless horse. Her show “We Have Life” refers to the last feelings a wild animal senses before being slaughtered by arrows, a moment you perceive by walking around Tanya’s studio space.