Cang Xin was born in 1967 in Inner Mongolia, China and is of Man nationality. He studied music, art and philosophy in Tianjin Academy of Music, Nankai University and Tianjing Academy of Fine Arts between 1986 and 1989. He has been painting sine 1991 and began working as a professional artist in the East Village in Beijing in 1993.
Cang Xin gained his reputation initially from his performance art. His early works were influenced by some Western performance artists but his work had more emphasis on physical movement, atmosphere, and audience engagement. In this he differed from other Chinese performance artists’ work at the time (the 1980s)whose work was marked by cynicism and rebelliousness. Cang Xin’s work was more concerned more with the constraints and anxieties of real life. Cang Xin’s work from this period includes Virus Series, Trample the face; To add one metre to an anonymous mountain; Communication; Bathing with lizards; and Identity exchange.
In 2002, Cang Xin moved to 798 Art Zone. He started his research and exploration of ancient religions of the hunting nomads in northern China. He expanded his artistic practice from performance art to a range of art mediums, including installation, multi- media, paintings and photography. Cang Xin’s work in this period includes Exotic Flowers and Herbs series, Cang Xin’s Mythology, Mechanical Device, and Cang Xin’s Shamanic Vision series. In these works he explored animist beliefs about the relationship between humans and nature.
In recent years, Cang Xin’s art and philosophical language has been strongly influenced by his interest in the origin of life and the universe. He has had several solo exhibitions on this theme including Hidden Consciousness, The Growth of Extra-Dimensional, and Spiritual Crystals series. He describes an imaginary and mysterious world based on ancient myths. This world represents both eastern civilisation and predictions of a future world beyond conventional understanding. To quote Can Xin - “Art, philosophy and religion are three basic components for human spiritual life and the meaning of our existence.”
Foreword of ‘Something from Nothing’ Exhibition
Cang Xin believes that contemporary art has three important functions; firstly it promotes as a universal value independent thinking, secondly, it helps us to construct a unique metaphysical view of the world, and thirdly it envisages the future.
Something from Nothing is an exhibition of Cang Xin’s small size artworks from the last three years. These paintings are his explorations of how to represent the history of human belief systems. He does this by adding his own perceptions and narratives to some iconic images from Western religious art. His sculptures are made of crystal resin and aluminium, representing “ spirit particles” and Shamanism respectively. The 3D video work conveys his understanding of the ancient Shamanist traditions.
Shamanism believes there is a blurred distinctions and interchangeability between inanimate objects and living things. Hence the title of this exhibition - Something from Nothing.