Dorian shows the tightly cropped face of Dorian Gray, his blue-eyed gaze staring out of the canvas towards and beyond the viewer. With a voluptuous mouth and perfect features his face is coldly ideal, with the colour of his skin seeming to oscillate between life and death. Next to him, a tarnished mirror reflecting the gaze of the viewer, echoes the portrait, whilst barely visible flowers absorb into the reflected image. Dorian’s face becomes a mask cropped and expressionless, so we are confronted by a blankness that parallels his ambivalence between morality and transgression. The mirror is symbolic of the cursed portrait, where Dorian sees the physical burdens of age and sin from which he has been spared. Through the mirror, two contradictory themes emerge, one associated with the virtue of truth (for the mirror is said not to lie) and the other with a perversion of truth, with vanity and the dark quality of luxury.

Ki Yoong’s work is figurative and takes inspiration from literary and poetic, art historical and the diverse real people around him to express ideas about identity, diversity and representation through attributes including gender, sexuality, race, nationality and heritage. The work comprises oil painting on wood, and a double wooden frame where real flowers are pressed between mirror and glass. It pairs with Sibyl.

Ki Yoong is an artist and illustrator based in London, UK. He studied Fine Art at The University of Leeds and completed MFA in Fine Art at Central St Martins. He has had several international exhibitions and for three years has been Artist-in-Residence at Copermill Primary School, Walthamstow. He has collaborated with a variety of brands including Vogue, Alex Eagle, Paul Smith and The House of Barnabas.