Xixi Qian's works depict a botanical punk world, fully expressing the alternative spirit of punk culture that transcends societal norms and creates a unique spiritual utopia. In her creations, plants serve as the core elements through which she explores various social regulations, reflecting the complexities of inclusiveness and opposition. Such exploration is enriched by the diversity of human society, making the plant world equally filled with intricacies and simplicities.
Specifically, her practice involves using the characteristics of roots and fungi to explore the social dynamics of second-tier Chinese cities. She interprets the social, economic, and cultural relationships between parents, neighbors, and different generations from both macro and micro perspectives. These creative practices enable her to scrutinize contemporary society from a unique standpoint.
Technically, she employs etching and aquatint techniques to depict the controllability and uncontrollability of printmaking through contrasting methods. She perceives printmaking as a controllable relationship between machines and humans.
In her string series, she delves into utopia from a microscopic perspective. Inspired by the symbiotic relationships between leguminous plants and rhizobia, she creates a plant punk world where plants inhabit the landscapes of her hometown, Wenzhou, such as the Yandang Mountains and the Nanxi River, coexisting harmoniously. Her works emphasize the economic and cultural imbalances caused by rapid industrial development over the past two decades and underscore the necessity of cultural growth alongside economic progress.
Xixi's research is influenced by Deleuze and Guattari's co-authored book, "A Thousand Plateaus," which explores non-linear, multi-centered, and non-hierarchical thinking and social structures. Meanwhile, anthropologist Xiang Biao, also from Wenzhou, provides deeper anthropological insights into the characteristics and changes of the city. Xixicombines these perspectives to examine her own experiences and her relationship with society.
