1/5/2025
Ge Xiao’s work this year embodies a more distinct sense of suspension. The ‘in-between’ state that was hinted at in her earlier works has been transformed into more concrete visual motifs in her current practice. Elements such as bridges, corridors, mist and echoes reappear throughout her new works, forming a spatial structure that is both present and elusive. What she paints is never a stable place, but always a state in the process of dissipating. In Echo Bridge, the bridge is dismantled into fragmented structures and floating fragments. This aborted bridge serves as a metaphor for the experience of dispersion. Arrival seems ever-expected, while the path itself remains permanently suspended in transit.
In last year’s work, Memory and Displacement, Ge Xiao also explored this theme. In this piece, the window is not just an opening in space, but becomes a device for emotional projection. In the East Asian architectural tradition, the window embodies the relationship between viewing and contemplation. It frames the landscape while reminding the observer of their own position. Ge Xiao transforms this traditional experience into an interface within contemporary imagery, rendering the window a boundary that alternates between memory and displacement. The viewer observes the exterior through the window, constantly aware of their own position on this side of it. The framed landscapes appear as projections of memory, always maintaining a distance that prevents true entry.
In her handling of time, Ge Xiao’s work from 2025 also shows greater complexity. In Echo Bridge, human voices are placed within a space similar to an echo chamber, where they repeat, fade and distort without ever forming a clear narrative. The sounds reverberate through the space like memories, returning time and again before slowly dissipating. The dislocation and delay between sound and image serve to extend the rhythm of viewing.
In her new creative phase, Ge Xiao has moved beyond an obsession with seeking a sense of belonging. She is now more concerned with how, once that sense of belonging begins to unravel, people continue to perceive the world amidst flux and find a way to remain. In Ge Xiao’s visual works, suspension becomes an open state, and a possibility for continued sensation and existence.