complicated and diversified structures resistant to reductive forms of classifications. Even when holding an exhibition around a theme, the works that actually make up any given series or collection involve a great many aspects that escape being simply defined by one kind of conception. Indeed, when thinking about the relationship between artworks and meaning I’m personally reminded of a quote from Heidegger in which he says, “A meaning only reveals its depth at the moment of death.” In this regard I think that all we can do as artists is to continue to unceasingly move forward.
Daniel: I’d like to begin with a quote from Norman Ford’s
piece “Naked Beyond Skin: Xiang Jing's Troubled Bodies,” as an entry point into the question of your works ostensible “feminism”:
It is as if … [Xiang Jing’s] figures have been culled from hundreds of different impressions of women over an immense time— contemporary to be sure, but also transcending any sort of reference to an actual person, time or place.
I am curious how you feel about this take on your work in Naked Beyond Skin; particularly, with reference to the idea of the feminine as a fundamentally irreducible multiplicity that links up to, but also transcends, historical, geographical, and social formations?
Xiang Jing: It’s undeniable that I have indeed made a lot of female sculptures. In fact, from the beginning of my sculpture career to more recently the majority of my works have either directly or indirectly involved the use of female forms. Despite this being the case, I only became aware of this fact after having it brought to my attention on numerous occasions. As a woman, perhaps choosing female forms as the bearer of my thoughts and experiences was a natural decision. Our generation, that is, the generation who experienced the historical period after the Cultural Revolution in China, has increasingly moved away from collectivism towards more individual forms of personal emotional expression, thinking and experience. I think many of my strategies basically belong to this type of historical conjuncture.
Although there are no (specific) models in my works, each woman I make appears very unique and looks