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Xiao Wang
CANADA
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"I view all my work as a personal collaboration of my culture, a projection of my own spiritual world, individual development, deep reflection of history, and curious expression of the contemporary world."
Xiao Wang was born in Nanjing, China, in 2000. He studied at the University of Toronto in the Aerospace Engineering program, but his passion continued to be in the field of art. His deep love of painting started at an early age of 5 and was strongly influenced by his Chinese culture, upbringing, and Kendo training that started in his teenage years. Xiao lives and studies in Toronto, Canada, currently.
Everlasting Loyalty | Mixed Media
24 X 16
Loyalty is not only referred to the strong feeling of support or allegiance for any authority or organization, but also to oneself. The final large water print with calligraphy means "Everlasting." Never a person or any authority can be everlasting, yet I believe the radiance of justice and kindness of humanity could. I wish everyone could keep loyalty to their true self and be faithful to kindness, then tragedy in history will not repeat.
Xiao has devoted a vast amount of energy to extensive Kendo training since his teenage years at age of 16. At the same time, he began to read Chinese historical allusions and became especially intoxicated by the stories of the Three Kingdoms period. The images of heroes fighting on the battlefield and swordsmanship in historical stories penetrated his fighting spirit and left a deep impression on him.
Young Apollo from Eastern Mainland | Mixed Media
40 X 18
The ink wash of mountains and seas in the background stands for ancient China. Other than the meaning that a young hero defends family and country, there is another broader meaning: When the new generation of a nation is strong, then the nation is strong and full of potential. This idea applies to all of society and the whole world as well. This is also a projection of my wish for the whole world to thrive and be prosperous, which corresponds to the meaning of the calligraphy above.
From the thousands of troops in the hustle and bustle of war on the Great Wall that is buried in the dust of history to a single figure sweating hard in the kendo dojo, Xiao integrated these images into his artwork as an interpretation of national spirit and righteousness from ancient Chinese historical stories and how he views the beauty of his culture as well as martial arts.
"My work is meticulous and precise, always conveying and invoking my strong moods and feelings. My intention is to share with others the aesthetics, people, and culture of ancient China."
He considers these works to be a perspective of his traits and culture through the eyes of an Eastern Asian Han Chinese youth, kendoka, and artist.
Golden Armour - Chrysanthemum | Mixed Media
36 X 16
This is the first piece of work I created when I picked up the paintbrush again at the age of 20. I wish I could be as tough and perseverant to recover my health and overcome all the difficulties in my life, just like chrysanthemums bloom and unleash their aroma no matter how severe the climate is. On the other hand, I am determined to covert my talent and potential to contribution to art community and society, just like chrysanthemum’s fragrance sweeping in the world.
This work covers half the of the Three Kingdoms history, which is a period from 220 to 280 AD. It is one of the bloodiest but also the most legendary battles in Chinese history. I demonstrate that piece of history through this painting, which contains lots of carefully designed details. The three characters on the picture are miniature of different types of hero rising in that period and also embodiment of my spirit. I am born in the Chinese civilization, thrive and continues in this bloodline.
Blood Line | Mixed Media
40 X 18
He uses traditional eastern ink-wash brushstrokes to express characters’ dynamic movements, which were inspired by the galloping horse of Xu Beihong. Xiao leaves the flexible ink stroke to look like it is alive and can have a silky flow on the soft and finely textured paper. Moreover, the idea of gluing gold foil for highlighting images is inspired by the making process of mysterious Thangka.
"My recent engineering studies have given me pause for thought as I seek to combine traditional Chinese art with more contemporary drawing skills. Additionally, I am trying to incorporate more digital technology into my art."
“Fusing art and martial art, I engage the complex events of ancient Chinese wartime history and the ancestral epics of life, my understanding of loyalty, courage, death, and the all-inclusive cosmos. My boundless repertoire of imagery is paralleled only by the breadth of media palpable in my work.”
Some of the works have Chinese calligraphy, which is done with ink and a Chinese writing brush. The meaning behind the Chinese calligraphy resonates with the theme and spirit of the image. Xiao then scanned them to create digital work, which she imported into Procreate and PhotoShop to further add details and emphasize color on the characters.
Havoc In Heaven | Mixed Media
26 X
This work is named from a Chinese Myth of Monkey King, who rebels against authority. I tried to create a strong sense of motion where the character sticks his weapon out of the screen and points to the audience. This intense impact is just like my passion of art, to show my artworks with maximum efforts. Finally, the movement trajectory of the weapon and the cloak of the character constitute the golden ratio, which adds some static beauty and balances the sense of motion in the whole picture.
With influence from Andy Warhol and Van Gogh, he tends to apply vibrant color with high contrast to set tones and address tension in his work and make images more vivid to enrich the static charm of oriental portraits.
King In The Forbidden City | Mixed Media
The character wears a heavy crown with large gem on, the crown is so heavy even made the bleeding. This could be concluded by a quote from Shakespeare: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." The one trying to wear the crown must bear the weight. A crown is a metaphor for achievement; a gem shining on it means success brings shining honors. The character is sitting on the throne in the Forbidden City, which breaks the old-time rule.
In addition, as influenced by Aubrey Beardsley, Xiao prefers to use elaborate fine lines to depict details. Those graphic patterns are all drawn by hand and creatively designed with meanings, serving as a foreshadowing of destiny, symbols of personalities, and metaphors of behavior for the characters.
"Owl" means an ambitious and powerful person in Chinese culture, and it is different from the traditional type of hero. They are more cunning and cruel. They are usually neither born distinguished nor raised in praise, and they win in a wily way. Just like owl, which is flying in the sky and fight with sly, perfectly serve as metaphor for people who are hero with no hornor."
Hero with No Hornor | Mixed Media
"The process of my work evolved from painting abstract figures and line drawing characters on watercolor canvas with Chinese ink wash to experimenting with the combining of mediums and objects to create my current mixed media work."
What Millions Died that Caesar Might Be Great！ | Mixed Media
This described the scene where the protagonist's son eventually becomes the emperor after thousands of years of warfare and vying for power. He sits on a huge dragon that usually serves as the physical embodiment of the highest power of control. The bloody handprints on the Ding means there are also other warlords desires to the power, but all failed. The skeletons and skulls with armor at the bottom of the picture represent the soldiers who died during the battles, and blood means wars are cruel and brutal.
On the other hand, apart from painting, Xiao also participated in the production of a short documentary named Inner Balance at the end of 2021, which was further selected by the Toronto Short Movie Festival.
Meet the Qin Military Bai Qi in my dream. In this story, Qi plays a role of instructor of teaching me The Art of War.
Saber Qin | Mixed Media
In a short movie, Xiao discussed his personal growth with martial arts, how martial arts helps him to achieve an inner balance, and the philosophical connection between arts and martial arts from his point of view.
Bloom of Epiphyllum | Mixed Media
I created this work to record my love story with my ex-boyfriend. The bloom of epiphyllum is very short; it withers soon. just like my first love, which is full of greenness and sweetness and ends in helplessness.
“My work speaks to people about the indestructible spirit of the heroes from the ancient China midland and my own fearless fighting spirit in Kendo tournaments.”
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