Minghua Xiang

Minghua Xiang

艺 术 家 声 明

“Becoming” is the core principle that reflects my own fluidity and plural identities. As a basic element of my artistic considerations, its core is to explore alternative concepts of body and social relationships as well as challenging gender, sexual or ethnic binaries through which we are taught to perceive the world.

“Becoming” is the core notion of my art practice which revolves around the “work in process” doctrine of pouring ink onto the canvas and observe the shapes it decides to become. These paintings combine traditional Chinese splash ink techniques incorporating western traditional and abstract styles. I am interested in the similarities, the tensions between these alternative styles, negotiating and combining Eastern and Western aesthetics, inherent philosophical connotations, thereby generating new forms of contemporary artistic expression. 

“Becoming” is the core concept that is used often in Zen and Daoist practice but is also often used in western philosophies of queerness and Post-humanism. I aim to explore these alternate philosophical traditions teasing out patterns from the tensions between them. Drawing inspiration from modern microscopic molecular aesthetics, I use the abstraction of gestural minimalism to paint suggestive, fantasy worlds that are neither eastern nor western. Essentially, this approach is consistent with the principles of Queer ethics, Post-humanism, Zen aesthetics, and traditional Taoism—it goes beyond a human-centered perspective, accepting differences and advocating the equality of all beings.