Fresh Eyes is a group exhibition featuring the work of Rachel Mercer and Wu Qiong, two emerging London based artists, recently graduated from the Royal Drawing School. The artists took part in a residency program in Chengdu, China, supported by Aspiring Van Gogh and San Mei Gallery.

Fresh Eyes explores questions around the feeling of belonging to a certain place, to a land, to a familiar space. The eyes of the tourist are wide and open, fresh, constantly making comparisons between new landscapes and more familiar surroundings. During their residency in China, as well as while back in the UK, Qiong and Rachel have used observational drawing to engage with the city, its culture and the people and as a starting point for their paintings. They wish to question their respective backgrounds and the way in which nationality and culture inevitably influence their perception of reality and their visual interpretation of it.