Xie Yuanqing, born in 1975 in Chenghai, Guangdong, graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and in 2005 received a Master of Arts degree from the same department.
He has previously taught at the Guangdong Art Normal School and the Affiliated High School of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He currently lives and works in Guangzhou, specializing in sculpture, with extensive experience in the realization and presentation of public sculpture projects. In addition, he is also engaged in calligraphy, as well as art curation and criticism.
In my sculptures, the full-bodied sculptural form is both the sculptural quality I tirelessly pursue and a kind of “spiritual sugar coating.” I like to use the sculpted body as metaphor and symbol, shaping the work into a clear and direct image so that viewers can grasp it at a glance, leaving in their minds a concise “image” or “mental impression.” “Fatness” is not only a reinforcement of sculptural volume and a stylization of my personal artistic language, but also a reference to this age of expansion and to the individual within it. I have been seeking to unify the mass of “fatness” with the implication of “inflation,” allowing them to merge into an expression where “form is concept.” In this sense, what I pursue is “not only lightness, but also seriousness.”
In my work, I constantly weigh and refine the balance between thought and playfulness, heaviness and levity, expansion and restraint, exaggeration and subtlety. These opposing forces are placed side by side, forming unusual combinations that redeem the seemingly simple, unelaborated exterior of the sculptures. Combined with introspective expressions and emotions that are either quiet or restrained, my works develop a distinct attitude and character among sculptures of similarly full volume. In fact, sculptures that share comparable fullness of form may embody vastly different—even opposing—spiritual pursuits and intentions. In my view, artistic language must not only be highly recognizable, but also possess aesthetic depth; most importantly, it must carry substance—genuine thought and care. Therefore, the outward appearance of being “fat” or “thin” should never be used as a standard for judging artistic merit. – Xie Yuanqing