The works of Wu Hao (b. 1985, lives and works in Wuhan) functions as a record and document of time compressed. In the series, titled Watermarks, the artist creates temporal paintings through the evaporation of a mixture of paint and water, on sheets of glass, in wine glasses and vessels of varying shapes and sizes. As acrylic paint evaporates in the span of months, it creates layers of gradations that delineate chromatic and textural variations.

Since 2012, Wu Hao has placed these objects-in-the-making in Wuhan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, documenting the evolution of weather, humidity, and temperature, in these cities. In a new series, Wu Hao collects from stores in Wuhan their old rolling metal gates and replaces them with new ones. Marred with advertisements, these gates have been painted over by the city authorities in a beautification effort. The layers of paint reveal the traces of time and of humanity, in a city teetering on the fragile state of development.