Primordial Fusion, 2023

“The soul stopped wandering, when it reached the field. Pure energy takes form in the reflection in water drops and dancing stars. A world within itself.” — Qian Qian

In Primordial Fusion, Qian Qian brings together two images from her painting series Field, merging them into a single, expansive composition. The work suggests a moment of convergence — where dispersed energy gathers and begins to take form.

Lines and constellatory marks hover between the microscopic and the cosmic. Water droplets become portals; stars echo cellular structures. The image resists fixed scale, oscillating between interior and exterior, body and universe. This collapsing of boundaries reflects Qian Qian’s wider interest in translation — between matter and spirit, science and myth, language and image.

Rather than illustrating a narrative, Primordial Fusion proposes a state of becoming: a field in which energy condenses into form, and form dissolves back into potential. 

In risograph printing, each colour is printed as a separate pass through a risograph machine — a stencil-based duplicator that presses organic soy inks into the paper. Risograph inks are naturally vibrant — they are renowned for their vivid colours and evident textures. The inks are transparent so layers build to create more colours. Slight shifts in registration and a soft grain make every impression subtly unique.

Primordial Fusion is printed on Munken Lynx natural white 170gsm, an uncoated, FSC-certified stock whose gentle warmth lets the colours glow. The edition is strictly limited to 100 and will never be reprinted. All prints were produced at the London Centre for Book Arts.