Confluence and Reflection: 2025 China-U.S. Sculpture Exchange Exhibition

Sculpture Exchange Exhibition Time

Dates: August 20-31, 2025 (UTC/GMT-6)

Location: CSI Project Space Gallery(1912 N. Damen, Chicago, IL, 60647, USA)

Opening Reception: Wednesday, August 20, 6 PM (UTC/GMT-6)

Hosts: Zhejiang Sculpture Society, Chicago Sculpture International

This cultural exchange exhibition brings 28 distinguished sculptors from China, using three-dimensional art as a dialogue between East and West. Spanning traditions from West Lake to Lake Michigan, the featured works reveal profound cultural connections and aesthetic harmonies across continents. We aim to deepen Sino-American artistic understanding, foster collaboration, and explore new creative pathways through this cross-cultural sculptural conversation.

ARTISTS & WORKS

Mortal Ladder · God Pot

CHANG Dejun

Resin, Copper, Aerosol；20×12×12cm

This work deconstructs the absoluteness of “high mountains” through “contradictory juxtaposition”: for those climbing up the steps, this stone is a “mountain” that needs to be looked up to the end; the stone steps are the scales measuring height; the ladder is a tool to bridge the gap, and it carries an aura of authority that is “difficult to surmount.”

∞

CHANG Dejun

Resin, Aerosol；33×15×12cm

This sculpture takes the mathematical infinity symbol “∞” as its base, nesting and integrating the core symbol of traditional Chinese philosophy, “Tai Chi and the Eight Trigrams”, with the typical carrier of modern technology, “chips/circuits”, to construct a dialogue field that spans time and space. Through the visual collision between “ancient” and “modern”, it conveys the philosophical thought that “civilization is profound because of inheritance and reborn because of integration”.

Shattered Time

CHEN Yining

Mixed Media；40×30×20cm

Time seems to flow in a straight line, but it never pauses for anyone. In this moment, it fractures—like a shattered clock face, quietly collapsing. Numbers fall. The hands of the clock still cling to rhythm, as if we try to maintain order in a world that has already drifted away.

“Shattered Time” does not capture time; It reminds us that time will not wait. It takes everything with it— even the things we thought we still had time for.

The Black Cat

GUO Tao

Aluminum；45×40×40cm

He, they, a group of timeless beings – observing, wandering, indifferent… The water flows endlessly around the city walls, and in the darkness, a ladder stretches into the distance. At the end of the ladder stands a terrified cat, while other cats cautiously weave and wander among them. Side by side, they resemble a group engaged in an inconsequential prayer.

Hong Yi

HOU Guangyu

Bronze；30×10×20cm

Tranquil, serene, composed, and resolute.

IDLE TIME ＆ EXPRESS EMOTIONS

HOU Guangyu

Pottery；30×25×25cm

The relaxation of fingertips when kneading clay, the unhurried creative rhythm, free from external distractions, only staying with the clay at the moment. The yearning for a simple life of plain tea and rice is entrusted to the incomplete shapes. Perfection is not pursued: the cracks on the pottery are the bite marks of time, and the dryness of the lotus pod is nature’s blank space. Just like life, imperfection is the norm. The simplicity of “kneading clay in leisure, entrusting feelings to objects” is indeed a touching destination.

「Seperation」

LIU Qing

Resin；30×11×13cm

Sliced chairs, splited links.

「Against」

LIU Qing

Resin；30×17×16cm

Break the balance, Support the balance.

Stone

RUAN Huaijun

Resin；30×21×16cm

Architecture, humanity, and stone each seek order within space. From different vantage points, we observe the shifting relationship between subject and object, between man and nature. Smallness and greatness sometimes only exist in relation to each other.

Prosperity and Fortune

SHEN Guohai, WU Keshu

Cast Bronze；h20cm

This work embodies an organic fusion of Eastern aesthetics and Dunhuang mural art concepts—both serendipitous yet logical, evoking a vision of a tranquil and prosperous era.

Folded Time

XU Qiumiao

Acrylic panel, Silk Fan, Mirror；70×50×60cm

Folded Time explores the intricate, non-linear relationship between memory and the present through a narrative rooted in Eastern spiritual sensibilities. At its core lies a poetic interplay between two symbolic materials: the silk fan, which carries the traditions of ink painting and lyrical expression; and the mirror, a medium of reflection and self-gaze. Through their layering, the work forges a dialogue between personal history and immediate perception.

Rather than offering a fixed narrative, the piece presents memory as it exists within consciousness blurred, fragmented, unstable. Memory here is not a singular recollection, but a residual presence: elusive, shifting, yet persistently felt. Like the visible residue left behind as time passes through memory, the present moment is reframed not as a fleeting point on a linear timeline, but as a living event co-constructed by body, memory, and spatial context.

The installation adopts a form of “visual extension” to create a psychologically immersive enclosure of a field rather than an object. This is not a static structure, but an active, generative environment. Light, shadow, memory, cultural imagery, and the movements of the viewer converge to form a multidimensional space of perception where time becomes tactile, and presence is constantly negotiated.

Wonderful World

XU Shencheng

Painted Steel；20×7×7in

This work symbolically depicts the boundless vitality of our blue planet, the very foundation of our existence. It stands in stark contrast to the myriad man-made disasters and natural catastrophes unfolding across the world today. Amidst these tumultuous times, it embodies a hope that humanity will never abandon the pursuit of our brightest hopes and dreams.

Unbounded

XU Zhenhuan

Stainless steel；60×70×30cm

Unbounded is an installation that explores the interplay of light, structure, and spatial perception. It seeks to dismantle conventional separations between physical and cognitive boundaries, drawing viewers into a fluid realm that hovers between the real and the abstract.

Composed of modular structures, the work introduces fissures and apertures within a rigorous geometric order, allowing light to penetrate and reshape the spatial experience. Here, the notion of “boundary” shifts—from a tool of division to a condition of emergence.

In this space, a boundary is no longer something closed or exclusive; it becomes a passage—traversed by light, resonant with consciousness, and open to bodily movement. As time passes and light shifts, the contours of the space are continually redefined, inviting perception to drift and reorient.

Misty Peaks

YUE Hai

Wood；h35cm

Carbonized Taihu Lake stone enhances the material’s immediacy, embodying a concern for both life and environmental protection.

The robust contours of the pipe meet the delicate undulations and porous texture of the Taihu Lake stone—not merely as a juxtaposition, but as a dialogue Western rationality and Eastern poetry interweave, much like a cultural bridge spanning across time and space.

Social Issues Animal – Pixiu

ZHAI Mofan

Gilded resin with gold leaf；20×15×22cm

The Pi Xiu is an animal in traditional Chinese mythology. Legend has it that it has a mouth but no anus, and it only takes in food but never excretes. With the current global overcapacity and food waste, it seems to be facing another problem now.

The Unspeakable

ZHAI Xiaoshi

Cast Bronze；40×20×15cm

Neither life nor death can be spoken of — Truth is neither “being” nor “non-being.” One appears to speak, yet speaks nothing; One appears to listen, yet hears nothing.

Heavenly Creations · Cosmos

ZHANG Haijun

Resin；30×26×5cm

This sculpture employs curved, hollow-cut mirror-polished stainless steel to symbolize the vastness and fluidity of the cosmos, its smooth surface reflecting infinite space and ever-shifting light. Irregularly scattered rough stones float like meteors within, as if being carved and polished by unseen forces—an allusion to the birth and dissolution of celestial bodies. The interplay between rigidity and fluidity, eternity and transience, echoes the perpetual shaping of all things in the universe through time: a process of both destruction and creation. The fusion of materials and forms conveys a philosophical meditation on the unceasing cycle of life within the primordial expanse of heaven and earth.

Drunken

ZHANG Jun

Photosensitive resin printing；30cmx11cmx16cm

Inspired by the romantic imagery of ‘Li Bai in Drunken Repose,’ this work employs contemporary matrix-slicing techniques to bridge a dialogue between classical poetry and modern industrial aesthetics. Through parametric arrangements, it generates a dynamic spatial rhythm, subtly evoking the flow of consciousness in a state of tipsy reverie. The interplay of solid and void between the slices creates an ambiguity of ‘resemblance and non-resemblance’—preserving the suggestive silhouette of the reclining poet while deconstructing traditional sculptural language with industrial precision.

Breaking free from figurative constraints, the abstract form navigates the tension between order and unrestraint, tradition and modernity, embodying industrial civilization’s deconstruction and reinterpretation of classical (artistic conception). With avant-garde visual vocabulary, it interrogates the boundaries of past-present fusion, seeking the unique resonance of poetic and vinous spirit within a contemporary context.

Xuanwu (a mythological creature)

ZHANG Songtaon

Bronze；12×12×15cm

Mysterious, magical, soothing to the sou

New Life · Re-Bloom

ZHANG Wen

Expanded Metal Lath；h60cm

New Life primarily utilizes expanded metal lath—a galvanized metal mesh commonly used as a base layer for architectural plaster—abstractly depicting a newborn plant breaking through the soil and stretching toward the sky. The work leverages the material’s quality of being rigid yet flexible, solid and void in interplay, inviting viewers to perceive the tension between rebirth, hope, and continuity amid the starkness of industrial material and the warmth of the natural environment. By transforming metal mesh—typically hidden within a building’s “texture”—into a publicly exhibited “bloom,” the artwork encourages people to reconsider common industrial materials and their life cycles, contemplating the philosophical cycle of “waste—renewal—blooming.”

“Confluence and Reflection: 2025 China-U.S. Sculpture Exchange Exhibition” is being held at CSI Project Space Gallery from August 20 to 31, 2025. Co-hosted by the Zhejiang Sculpture Society and Chicago Sculpture International, this exhibition uses sculpture as a medium to deepen Sino-American cultural understanding and explore possibilities for diverse artistic creation.

The exhibition showcases works by 28 Chinese artists. Where the poetic charm of West Lake converges with the grandeur of Lake Michigan, these artists engage in profound dialogue through their distinct visual language. Their creations not only highlight the vitality of contemporary Chinese sculpture but also seek resonance with Western artistic contexts, revealing shared aesthetic values and humanistic spirit across both cultures. Guiding audiences on a dual visual and spiritual journey, the pieces traverse from Eastern lyricism to Western philosophy, and from traditional craftsmanship to bold modernist innovation.

The title “Confluence and Reflection” symbolizes the convergence, exchange, and mutual enlightenment of diverse cultures, culminating in crystalline insight. Beyond an assembly of artworks, this exhibition serves as a bridge for deeper interaction between Chinese and American sculptural communities and inspires future collaboration. We anticipate this platform will ignite new creative inspiration and expand the horizons of artistic expression.

Welcome to the exhibition

If you are in Chicago at the moment, feel free to step into the CSI Project Space Gallery. Pause in front of each sculpture to experience the cultural resonance that transcends mountains and oceans. If you can’t be there in person, you may also follow the exhibition updates—through images and texts, witness how this artistic feast opens up more diverse possibilities for China-U.S. cultural exchanges. After all, great art knows no boundaries; it always builds a bridge of connection between different souls. And “Confluence and Reflection” is precisely such a wonderful start.