Sitings Research

This reflective writing assignment made us have to pick one sculpture or installation from an exhibition that was on at the current time. I chose a work from the 'Dark Heart' exhibition that was currently happening at the South Australian Art Gallery.

Ah Xian

In Evolutionaura Chinese-Australian artist Ah Xian continues his exploration of the human figure. Like the artist himself, the figures occupy an in-between space – between countries and cultures. Xian sought political asylum in  Australia in the post-Tiananmen period of the early 1990s, which provides, in Evolutionaura as elsewhere, an enduring conceptual basis informing his practice.

Comprised of eight life-size bronze busts, Ah Xian’s series references the traditional Chinese appreciation of the alchemic qualities of minerals, affixed to the casts in mimicry of a magnetic effect. The use of Lingbi stone hailing from Lingbi County in Anhui Province places the works within the traditions of Chinese philosophy and art, and is commonly referred to as ‘scholar’s stone’. Through the presentation of these minerals, Ah Xian artfully balances reverence with a critique of environmental exploitation.

In Evolutionaura Ah Xian takes his practice with human forms into an expanded environment, where growths and additions place the body in a fascinating, enveloping abstract landscape of stone.Nicholas Josehttp://adelaidebiennial.com.au/artists/ah-xian/^Ah Xian, Evolutionaura5: Agate-2, 2011–13, bronze, gold, agate beads, 49.5 x 43.5 x 26.0 cm © Ah Xian. Collection and courtesy the artistdown:Ah Xian, Evolutionaura2: Xuanyuan Stone-1, 2011–13, bronze, gold, Xuanyuan stone, 59.5 x 47.5 x 27.0 cm, © Ah Xian. Collection and courtesy the artist

Ah Xian, Evolutionaura1: Turquoise-1, 2011–13, bronze, gold, turquoise, 54.0 x 43.0 x 29.5 cm, © Ah Xian. Collection and courtesy the artist