TAN Zhicong

Tan Zhichong was born in Dongguan, Guangdong. He graduated from the Figurative Realism Studio of the Oil Painting Department at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts (XAFA). He is currently a Master’s student at XAFA. His practice focuses on the dilemmas of modern youth, using a blend of realism and surrealist expression to explore individual sensory and spiritual states.

Silent Retention  employs a language interweaving realism and surrealism to project the artist’s introspection on the contemporary youth’s lived reality. The composition focuses on a static torso clad in a crisp white shirt, hands cradling a bright yellow lemon with a mix of caution and hesitation. This minimalist arrangement, set against the profound tension of a deep green backdrop, constructs a psychological space that feels almost frozen in time.

As an object imbued with sensory metaphors of tartness and acidity, the lemon—offset by the clean white shirt—symbolizes the balance and protection an individual strives to maintain amidst everyday anxiety. Through a precise capturing of localized details, the work transforms invisible psychological pressure into concrete visual evidence, resonating deeply with the viewer’s own state of existence.