Shen Shaomin’s first solo exhibition in New York just opened. The conceptual artist loves to push unconventional materials to new limits, while commenting on contemporary issues. This exhibition feature his new bonsai ink installations. Here, the tortured ornamental trees become a metaphor for controlling nature and beauty. With such practices as foot binding in mind, the artist illustrates violence done to reshape the work of nature. He pushes the limits of traditional bonsai arts, employing a wide range of techniques to mutilate his bonsai trees, bending them to his will. The exhibition also includes Shaomin’s G8 Summit installation, portraying iconic world leaders. The distorted framed canvases cause the faces of the public figures to shift, thus revealing the ironic mutability of politicians and their views or promises.