Wu Wei

Qu Ru, 2020, paper, wood, metal, plaster, plastic, 70 × 58 × 178 cm

“Qu Ru” is a divine bird from ancient Chinese mythology—human-faced and three-legged—its cry being identical to its name. The artist appropriates this image from The Classic of Mountains and Seas and reinterprets it as an alienated “object,” a being that emerges in a freer and more flamboyant life-form, where fur and body interlace. The divine bird traditionally symbolizes ritual and sacrifice. In the work, the flesh-colored geometric forms at the base clearly echo its bodily attributes, touching upon symbolic orders embedded in Chinese tradition. From a visual standpoint, these forms may also be read as a simple methodology of association and reconstruction. Just like its call, “Qu Ru” is both its name and its very being.