Imagine standing before a sculpture that seems to breathe. Its surface ripples, a rock-like exterior that appears to be absorbing the reflective metal elements within. This is Xiao Deng’s “Fire and Water in Harmony”, a work that spans the boundaries between the natural and artificial, the ancient and futuristic.
Black and white, fire and ice, solid and liquid. Where Western thought sees conflict, Eastern philosophy finds balance. In Taoist teachings, they are seen as two forces balanced in harmony – think of the black and white in the symbol for Ying and Yang or how fiery volcanoes meet ice in Iceland and create new materials. This thinking applies to Xiao Deng’s practice, striking a balance between two opposing forces. These opposing forces govern both our world and Xiao’s art.
‘Fire and water in harmony’ is an undulating sculpture that appears as if it could be naturally occurring. The exterior, painted steel that resembles volcanic rock, seems to be absorbing the reflective stainless steel elements, forming a single entity. Nature meets the man-made, working in unison. The result is something that looks like it could have erupted from the earth yesterday or landed from another galaxy entirely. It’s a work that encourages us to see it as ambiguous.
Step closer to the sculpture and watch it transform. The interplay of a matte surface and reflective steel means that as the light shifts throughout the day, the sculpture morphs, revealing new contours and hiding others. You see yourself reflected in its surface, fragmented and multiplied, forcing us to question: Are you observing the art, or is it observing you?
It prompts us to consider how it came to be here, what its purpose is, and how we should feel about it – intrigued, concerned, or in awe. Scale this piece up, and you’d have something that wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi epic – an alien vessel that has somehow grown from the earth itself.
Xiao Deng’s wider practice is inspired by quantum mechanics and cosmology, drawing inspiration from the Big Bang – that singular moment when all matter exploded into existence. She’s creating art that bridges the gap between the universe’s first nanosecond and its eventual heat death, finding beauty in both creation and the concept of entropy.
Her installations already hint at what’s possible when given room to breathe. But imagine walking into a full-scale environment of her making – stepping into a space that feels like the interior of a living organism or the surface of an undiscovered planet. The kinetic elements she’s experimenting with in her mock-ups suggest a future where her sculptures not only occupy space but also actively reshape it and our experience within that space.
The artist has already demonstrated her ability to work at architectural scales, and her mock-ups suggest even more ambitious projects on the horizon.
Picture walking through a hall where the walls themselves seem alive, where the boundary between floor and ceiling dissolves into something that feels more grown than built. This isn’t science fiction – it’s the logical next step for the artist. It’s a side of her practice that I want to see more of as she grows in confidence and ambition.
