Dolly and Bonnie, 2026
Oil on linen
81 x 54 cm (32 x 22 in)

Dolly and Bonnie (2026) extend Tan Mu's sustained engagement with the legacy of cloning technology, returning to the figure of Dolly the sheep five years after her earlier painting Dolly (2021). Where the first work contemplated the cloned animal in isolation, a singular figure suspended between scientific fact and childhood memory, this companion piece introduces Bonnie, the first lamb born naturally to Dolly in April 1998. The painting depicts the two animals together: the larger ewe standing upright and frontal, gazing outward with an almost totemic stillness, while the smaller lamb turns away, poised at the threshold of departure. Their relationship within the composition is less a sentimental portrait than a philosophical proposition: the clone who produced life through natural means, and the offspring who, in her very ordinariness, became proof that a body assembled from replicated code could still participate in the unpredictable processes of biological continuity.

Quantum Gaze 02, 2026
Oil on linen
40 x 80 cm (16 x 31 1/2 in)

In Quantum Computer (2020), Tan Mu painted IBM's quantum system as an external object and realized, upon completion, that she had made a portrait. In the monumental Quantum Gaze (2023), she moved inside the machine, rendering its cooling systems and superconducting circuits as a form of interior architecture suspended between material reality and imagination. Quantum Gaze II (2026) completes the sequence by introducing what the earlier works always implied but never depicted: the human body. A figure seen from behind, her dark hair drawn back, pearl earrings catching the ambient light, stands before the polished casing of a quantum computing system. She does not operate the machine or study a readout. She looks. The painting shifts its subject from the technology itself to the act of perception, staging an encounter between embodied human cognition and a form of intelligence that operates beyond the reach of the senses.

The Wave 04, 2024
Oil on linen
73 x 100 cm (29 x 40 in)

The Wave series, inspired by propellers and mechanical technology, delves into the intricate and often unseen forces that propel modern machinery forward. Through these works, Tan Mu examines the mechanics and profound influence of propulsion technology, inviting viewers to contemplate the delicate interplay between human ingenuity and the natural world. In her meticulously crafted oil paintings, Mu captures the essence of the propeller, highlighting its significance as a technological marvel central to maritime transportation and global trade. Beyond their functional importance, the Wave series encourages a deeper reflection on the broader implications of such advancements. It challenges us to reconsider our relationship with nature, recognizing how technological progress shapes and transforms our interactions with marine environments and ecosystems. A visual meditation on innovation and its consequences, the Wave series urges us to appreciate both the beauty and the far-reaching impact of technological evolution in our interconnected world.