COLLABORATIONS 2022
A SEED A WORK N°1″ PROJECT OCTOBER 2023 – ISTANBUL,TURKEY
In collaboration with the mediation group at the Arter Museum in Istanbul, this project is aimed at children aged 5 to 10, and aims to awaken their sensitivity to creativity and stimulate their imagination from an early age.
Funding: Vehbi Koç Foundation.
Composed of sculptures, embroidery and drawings, Xuefeng Chen’s practice weaves together mythical narratives, ancestral rituals, traditional crafts and contemporary artistic practices. At the heart of his work, which brings to life totemic figures, divinities, chimeras and hybrid beings of various kinds using mixed techniques, lies the notion of transmission. For Chen, who grew up in a rural area of China’s Yunnan province before moving to France, the relationship between imagination and reality, the known and the unknown, chaos and cosmos are essential elements of his artistic approach. The hybrid character of the forms fashioned by the artist materializes a sense of osmosis and unity between different species and spheres, as well as between human and non-human beings, with the aim of restoring a lost connection with the elements and forces of nature. Embodying the rich diversity of forms found in nature, his sculptures and drawings embrace the cycle of life and death that perpetuates species, while at the same time engaging in a process of metamorphosis that encourages the genesis of new forms. Chen’s works, often adorned with vivid colors, also establish a link between universal, primordial forms that span ages and cultures, and the colorful, imaginative world of childhood. ( Selen Ansen, April 2022 )
NATURE AND ME” PROJECT NOVEMBER 2021 TO JUNE 2022-LYON
Collaboration with Pascal Fino, director of the Cité Scolaire Internationale de Lyon (primary school). Sponsor: Ville de Lyon, Métropole de Rhône-Alpe.
This project, conceived as an experimental collaboration, involves working with the four main teachers in each class. Throughout the school year, this art project will accompany four classes (CP, CE1, CM1 and bi-language group) in a reflection on nature, the environment and us. Translate these reflections into artistic language, and create collective works.
Four sculptures, created by four groups, are installed in the indoor and outdoor areas of the school garden, where they live with the children on a daily basis.
MAY 17, 2022
Visit to La Karrière with the 4 classes taking part in the project.
MAY 13, 2022
COollaboration with Yves Bourget, director of the documentary film, for a BÔ shoot at La Karrière.
