About the artwork
In this work of her from her Existential Emptiness, the wave of serenity and coldness hits the audiences as they see the pan view of the landscape. As our view scans from the left to the right, we can see transformation of traditional into contemporary. The school girl, camouflaged in the pile of snow draws the audiences to linger a few more seconds to realize her eerie lifeless existence. Yet we can see from her eyes that there is that little soul still pumping life in her in the midst of the motionless landscape.
About the artist
Cui Xiuwen ( 1967 - 2018 ) was one of the most influential independent female artists in China. Her artistic vision combined precision and incisive thought, allowing her to penetrate and explore the deep contradictions within human nature. Her images and pictures were inspired by the elements of concept, ethos, and visual performance, with an emphasis on simplicity and bold imagination.
She was the first Chinese artist to have her works exhibited at the Tate Britain, and her video masterpiece Ladies Room was in the collection of the Centre Pompidou in France and the Ullens Foundation Collection in Belgium. In 2008, she was awarded the prestigious Shu-Fang Hsiao Art Foundation Outstanding Female Artist Award by the Wu Zuoren International Fine Arts Foundation. In 2010, she was named as one of the AAC Art China Annual Influential Artists, and was the first woman to receive the honour. The same year, she won the Youth Artist Award, an accolade given by the Chinese Art Critics Annual.