If So: Solo Exhibition: Canal Cheong Jagerroos

Ronewa Art Projects is pleased to announce the upcoming solo exhibition by Chinese-Finnish artist Canal Cheong Jagerroos. If So unveils a new series of mixed-media abstract paintings that explore transient moments of connection and creative intuition, told through Cheong Jagerroos’ unique synthesis of materials, techniques, and artistic traditions. 

This series encapsulates Cheong Jagerroos’ distinctive blend of Eastern and Western artistic influences, mapping her own movement through these worlds. Having been immersed in art since her childhood in Macau, China, she draws on elements of traditional Chinese art, such as calligraphy and rice paper. The foundation of Cheong Jagerroos’ multi-layered works on canvas is the ink drawings she creates on large sheets of rice paper—sketching scenes, symbols, and words, in a free flow of ideas—which she tears into fragments. These fragments float unbound in abstract pictorial spaces punctuated by explosive gestural strokes, demonstrating a parallel influence of abstract expressionism. 

Each work in this series is a convergence of sensation and memory drawn from her recent travels across Shanghai, Macau, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Helsinki, and Berlin. “These works are not bound by geography; instead, they capture fleeting moments of insight and inspiration, revealing how moments of transit and pause, chaos and calm, can all coexist in a unified expression,” writes Cheong Jagerroos. What emerges from the exhibition and can be observed throughout her practice is an inquisitive and poetic philosophy of moving through the world.

The series title, If So, aptly communicates Cheong Jagerroos’ creative state of openness and embrace of possibility. Reverberating throughout her work is a deep trust in the creative process. Across the exhibition, she invites viewers into her space of imaginative freedom, transience, and emotional vulnerability, encouraging them to take a personal journey through the works.

Canal Cheong Jagerroos (b.1968) lives and works primarily between Helsinki and Shanghai. Her experiences living in and traveling between numerous countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa over the past 30 years greatly influence her practice. Cheong Jagerroos has exhibited extensively throughout Europe, China and the USA. Her co-founded art project ‘Blue and Red’ and ongoing project ‘Floating Island,’ featuring large-scale paintings and textile installations, have been exhibited in numerous art museums in China and Finland since 2018, including Korundi Rovaniemi Art Museum, Joensuu Art Museum, Jyväskylä Art Museum, and Salo Art Museum in Finland, and Xian Art Museum in China.