'The work of Xioajing Yan ranges from intricate sculpture to installations of monumental scale...she explores the confluence between the natural world and modes of cultural exchange. Yan's creative practice blends traditional Chinese materials and techniques with contemporary aesthetics and presentation...trained in the East and West, Yan has a distinctive artistic vision, which highlights what it means to thrive between two cultures. Her work can be seen as a visual expression of the confluence of two cultures. When combined, they become a catalyst for inciting a dialogue about sense of place, identity and temporality.'
Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto. Xioajing Yan exhibition 'Where Two Rivers Meet, 2019'
I am fascinated with Yan's work with the Chinese mushroom fungus, the Ling Zhi Mushroom. Her work, entitled 'Ling Zhi', is a wall installation made up of cast bronze mushrooms growing out of the wall. She uses the mushrooms as a visual reminder of the sense of loss felt by being separated from loved ones, a common experience of Chinese families separated by the need to work and/or emigrate.
In her work, 'In Suspended Silence' she created a series of female heads named 'Ling Zhi Girls', partly referencing the eight Immortals of Chinese legend. The heads were made of clay, cast in plaster then, to fibreglass resin moulds. The final extraction from the mould happened while fungal mushroom compound in the mould was still damp. The mushroom fungus was encouraged to grow in the mould and continued producing spores that produced mushrooms and brown powder which slowly engulfs each head.
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