Within Duality, the new, previously unseen project by photographer and visual artist Yu Yuanfan, emerges as an investigation into the body and its relationship with the self. Through a visual narrative that merges documentary and diary-like language, Yu stages an intimate dialogue with another version of herself. She brings to life a mirrored presence that conveys both affection and estrangement, where the body reveals itself as a space of encounter but also of conflict.

The photographs, marked by minimalist composition and a deliberate arrangement of space, explore the constant tension between the desire for unity and the inevitable inner conflict. The figure appears suspended in perpetual tension, where both sides of the self lie on the same plane: on one side, surrender; on the other, resistance. The body splits, conversing with its other half, creating a play of intimacy and conflict that exposes the ambivalence of identity. Within this duality, the artist represents the folds of the mind, presenting a suspended portrait in which beauty merges with vulnerability, where every gesture seems to oscillate between the desire for fusion and the fear of losing oneself.

Yu Yuanfan’s research and representation do not merely depict the body as a visible surface, but rather as a layered territory where the mind leaves its traces, engraving marks, conflicts, and memories. Each shot and every gesture becomes a trace of a silent dialogue with oneself, where the skin is a frontier, revealing fragility and contradictions.

In her minimalist approach, empty space functions as a fundamental part of the narrative, giving power to the silence that amplifies the tension between intimacy and alienation. This emptiness generates visual pauses, moments of suspension in which the viewer is prompted to perceive what remains unspoken. The essential composition allows light and shadow to communicate with the surrounding silence. Here, minimalism does not reduce complexity but concentrates it, transforming visual silence into a tool to explore the conflict and intimacy of the duality of being.

Based in London and with six years of academic training, including an MA from Central Saint Martins, Yuanfan Yu has already exhibited her work in international contexts such as Ugly Duck Gallery’s Violent Bodies, MISS READ: The Berlin Art Book Festival, and Studio Voltaire.

Within Duality acts as a portrait of self identity that does not seek resolution but welcomes conflict as a fundamental part of being.