Bao Rong: Inflatable Sculptures Between Humor and Alienation

Bao Rong (Huizhou, 1997) is a Chinese artist gaining international recognition for her inflatable, often kinetic sculptures that blend lightness with existential themes. She was named among the '10 best emerging artists' by UCCA, Beijing's leading contemporary art center, and became the first Chinese female artist to have a solo show at London's Saatchi Gallery. In 2023, she earned a sculpture diploma from the Royal College of Art, following studies at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In Italy, she exhibited at ReA! fair in Milan in 2022 and at Pinacoteca Agnelli's Pista 500 in Turin in 2025. Her work, categorized as Inflatable Art, uses humor and play as emotional and cognitive tools to address contemporary absurdities. For her Hong Kong exhibition at Carl Kostyál Gallery, she created 'The Hole', a large inflatable sculpture inspired by the ancient Chinese text 'The Peach Blossom Spring', inviting viewers to crawl inside a narrow opening into a luminous space. The piece explores birth, rebirth, and transformation, with a version featuring mechanical legs kicking endlessly. Rong aims to create more interactive, ritualistic works that blur the line between public sculpture and performance.