We are thrilled to share our artist spotlight of the week featuring Mei Xian Qiu, an artist in our current group exhibition, THE EROTIC IMPULSE IN AN EVER BECOMING UNIVERSE.

MEET THE ARTIST: Mei Xian Qiu

Mei Xian Qiu is a Chinese-American artist based in Los Angeles. She was born in the town of Pekalongan, on the island of Java, Indonesia- where she draws much inspiration for the work that is on view in our current exhibition, most notably her series titled “Let a Thousand Blossoms Bloom.” 

“These works are a reference to the 100 Flowers Campaign of 1956 in China. Mao had lessened the restrictions on critical discourse and encouraged artists and intellectuals to come out and openly critique the government: to have an open discourse and create a cultural flowering. It was abruptly changed after several weeks and many of the artists, educators and intellectuals were imprisoned. It is a famous incident of hope, followed by calamity. So the models that I used for this series are all Chinese educators, artists and intellectuals. I am also interested in beauty and find that the beauty of a flower is, in part, its fleeting nature. Its impermanence adds to its beauty.”
– Mei Xian Qiu

SEE HER WORK

In our artist talk with Mei, she describes her process and the connection behind her decision to use UV printed photographs that are imprinted on clear substrate plexiglass. She recalls often visiting a Dutch Cathedral In Java where she she noticed the stain glass windows and their dance with the light coming in. For these photographs, she asked her friends to pose as the models, choosing lovers of the same sex. She feels that there is less of a power dynamic than those relationships in the opposite sex, and wanted to avoid the hierarchic roles that they could imply.

“Losing oneself in a lover, experiencing the deep joy of erotic pleasure and the love of another, is a form of liberation and a measure of how to gauge happiness in one’s life. Joy is a birthright and a state of consciousness that is fundamental to living a meaningful life. It is a song sung to the muses that comes from the radiating vibrations of the erotic impulse.”

-Gary Brewer, Exhibition Essay