‘A sensitivity to traces’

“Boat Returning in a Rainstorm,’’ by Chenlin Chi, in his show “Light, Shadow, and Memory: Humans, War and Nature,’’ at 3S Artspace, Portmouth, N.H., Oct. 2-Nov. 2. He emigrated to the U.S. from China.

The gallery says:

“The instinct of an artist is to discover beauty in life and to construct a visual language through perception. Chenlin Cai's work investigates how images emerge and transform through the interaction of perception, material, and time. He approaches painting, murals, installation, and moving image as interconnected processes to explore how images act as carriers of memory—shaped by lived experience, cultural history, and technological mediation.

“His practice originates from an early sensitivity to traces—peeling surfaces, oxidized mirrors, and other marks shaped by time. Within these residual forms, the artist perceives latent imagery that holds both presence and absence, inviting projection and association. These traces function as visual memories, where time leaves behind fragments that echo processes of transformation, erosion, and accumulation.’’