Xiner Xu

My practice investigates growth, identity and the meaning of home through analogy between the time of nature and the time of human endeavor. I intend to investigate my ability as a photographer to inflect what appears to be a straightforward document from the real world with individual meaning through evanescent moments of the trivial, ordinary.

Nature represents both the outside field and the nature instincts. Within my work, trees are living entities but also become a portrait of myself, alike a portrait of a teenager growing up in a blended family. My works reflect the confusion or estrangement from my family, whilst scaffold being an allegory of home, which refers to both the supports and constraints from family.

Exploiting the possible union of opposites between the body of trees and the scaffolds, I attempt to re-examine and understand how I could integrate with my family, like the tree gently touching on the facade, or the wintersweet flowers attempting to grow from the mattress.