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M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation, © Hu Xiaoyuan
Hu Xiaoyuan 胡曉媛
A Keepsake I Cannot Give Away 送不出去的信物
2005–2006
This mixed-media installation consists of embroidery on white silk and hair supported by rings. The work is grouped into pairs: one piece of embroidery depicts a part of the artist’s body, such as her finger, breast, and genitalia, often using simple lines, and the other features flowers and animals. The depictions of mandarin ducks and koi recall symbols of happiness and marriage in traditional Chinese culture. Made during Hu Xiaoyuan’s early career, the work demonstrates the artist’s use of a range of materials, which are often organic and personal, to express conflicting emotions. Hair, a symbol of fidelity, is used as thread, contributing to the sense of intimacy that her work evokes. At the same time, the suspension of the pieces and the draping of the silk attached to the rings give a feeling of isolation and incompleteness. Her work expresses the conflicting emotions of closeness and separation that one experiences in a relationship. While natural materials such as silk and wood continue to figure in Hu’s practice, which encompasses sculpture and video, her later works show a closer observation of and experimentation with the subtleties and contradictions that arise from bringing different materials together.
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