The Artist
Xiaojun Song was born in China, during the one-child policy, where she grew up until the age of 24. After graduating from the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, in Wuhan, Xiaojun Song went to France to study fine arts in Nancy, where she got two plastic arts degrees in 2010 and 2012.
Artistic universe
« Black and white, full and empty, visible and invisible. My work is bound to a constant search on their relations and compositions. The use of various modes and themes allows me to display a large range of emotions that can all relate to the topics of Nature and body. According to Laozi
« The Way (Dao) is the path to virtue. As an object, the Way is vague and undefined, yet in this indetermination, it possesses a shape and a certain reality ». The existing and inexistent permanently cohabit in my work as an indefinite dialectic.
I get my inspiration from works by Pierre Soulages, Tadashi Kawamata, Anish Kapoor and ancient Chinese painters.
Lately I’ve started several short colourful series, about poppies, pears and pots.
I often use Chinese ink. This technique is important to me, not only is it an artistic tool, it also bears its own identity. »
Series – Meditation
« The series Meditation is the reflection of my thoughts on life, composed of endlessly repeated strokes. From dawn to dusk, from birth to death, everything is just the repetition of the same cycle. Regardless of the things we do, and regardless of the meaning we give to them, everything we do inevitably leads us to the end of our life. The movement of the lines is similar to this, as a meaningless departure. It comes from nowhere to go nowhere. It’s simultaneously cause and effect. As in the taoist genesis principle, the first line generates the second one, and so on until the composition is complete. The line only exists in the generation of following and repeated lines, until the gesture progressively fades to become fully meditative. »
A word from the artist
« My father was one of the few painters from the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. My bedroom also used to be his studio. I’ve always lived surrounded by his paintings and other artistic works. I started imitating him quite early. Years passed and drawing became my routine, a part of my life as eating and drinking would be. Most of my work is made in a rather unconscious way and naturally reveals my artistic reflexion. To me, my creative process is introspective and cathartic. »