生生 / Shēngshēng

Cut a tree open and you find time made visible. Each ring marks one year - drought or abundance, stillness or growth - layer upon layer , accumulating around a center that never moves. Growing up in Nanjing, one of the most forested cities in China, trees lined every street. Their shadow, their smell, the texture of bark accompanied me from the beginning. I sample these rings directly from real trees, bringing their actual texture into the work through screen printing. 

I have worked with this motif for fifteen years, first printed flat, then as the body of wall objects. In this series it moves into three dimensions - spiraling, tilting, reaching. The forms draw from Chinese Shanshui(landscape ink) painting, translating the rhythms of mountains, water, and clouds into sculpture that feels at once rooted in tradition and alive in the present. 

In Eastern philosophy, growth is cyclical. It circles back, accumulates, returns to its own center for rebirth. This is how identity forms - not in a straight line, but in rings. At the core of this series is 生生不息 - life continuously generating itself, without end. A celebration of the rational order and emotion life circle and the beauty of balance.

Each piece is screen printed, painted, carved and assembled entirely by hand.