In the Tao Te Ching, it is said that nothing lasts forever—everything moves through the rhythm of birth, growth, and death. In Xi Liu’s practice, she searches for eternal principles through close observation, intuitive making, and spiritual inquiry. Drawing from Taoist and Buddhist philosophy, Christian symbolism, and Jungian psychology, her work explores cycles of impermanence, inner transformation, and our place within a larger cosmic order.
Her process centers on two interwoven approaches. One involves creating self-sustaining ecosystems using natural, biodegradable materials—dissolvable paper, oranges, handmade pigments—constructed with slowness and care. These living installations mimic the Earth’s evolutionary path: water gives way to soil, then to plant life. Her ongoing aquarium project began as a meditation on the origins of life. When she once forgot to turn off its artificial light, causing algae overgrowth, the accident became a lesson in divine responsibility and the humility of creation.
The second approach returns to traditional materials—oil on canvas, Chinese scroll painting, watercolor—to reflect on permanence and change. The circle, a recurring motif in her work, represents both self and cosmos. In drawing a circle, she performs a quiet ritual: a gesture of listening, anchoring the transient in form.
Xi is deeply influenced by Hilma af Klint and John Cage—not for their aesthetics, but for their trust in uncertainty, meditation, and the unseen. Her practice embraces openness, experimentation, and a reverence for the unknown. Rather than seeking control, she invites process to lead.
For Xi, art is a spiritual bridge between inner experience and the external world—a path to healing, remembrance, and new ways of being. Be the Sun—the magic and answers are already within.
