Hu Xiaoyuan's Carpel III (2025) merges rosewood, marble and raw silk into a delicate yet violent form

Hu Xiaoyuan's 2025 sculpture Carpel III combines multiple materials into a single, potent form. A rosewood branch emerges from a carved marble base, transitioning into a slender mesh tube made from xiao, or raw silk. This material represents the artist's signature medium. The rigid upward movement of the wood gives way to a softer, more flexible downward flow in the semi-transparent silk. Its precise curve evokes the stillness of a whip after impact. At the junction where wood meets silk rests another xiao structure, creating a hollow, spectral counterpart to the solid marble below. The work possesses an exquisite, ethereal quality, simultaneously fragile and commanding. Its wraithlike appearance maintains a stately, almost ominous presence. This piece embodies the subtle violence found in transient forms, reminiscent of a soap bubble clinging to its wand—poised between flight and dissolution.