Jiaqi Xu visualizes hefty questions of human existence through a veil of unique lightness. Effervescent and lighthearted, her stance comes across as an unexpectedly clever punch-line. A refreshing breeze that mends a part of the soul unnoticed until then. Jiaqi Xu – also referred to as QQ – embraces a playful angle and thirst for fun. Such blithe gaze contrastingly points at the ethereality of transcendental musings. Based in Tokyo and dedicated to installation art, QQ stands her ground to “express things through my work without endowing it with a real purpose to exist”.

A cyclical nature of existence 

Trained in Photography and Media Art, QQ is fascinated with the idea of an intertwined and collective human subconscious. Her practice often touches on concepts of worship, truth and the human yearning to seek belongingness and meaning in the world. 

“I have a lot of ideas every day, at all times, and I’m changing constantly. I can only catch them in the present moment”. 

Fortuitously, QQ realized she “had to be alert to the power of worship as a collective power of speech”. The idea of speech, she says, collides with the fundamental human plight to achieve truth and strive for free will. In resonance with this, QQ identifies a profound sense in art to construct alternative forms of discourse. The discourses in the hand of artists, she affirms, show that truth doesn’t culminate at any specific space or time. “It’s the process towards an idea of truth is what actually reveals it”. Referring to “truth” and “freedom” as two sides of the same coin, QQ states that art evidences that “beauty is the only bridge to real human freedom”. 

Jiaqi Xu’s creature’s creature 

Working with a rich sort of mixed media, QQ finds sources of creativity in natural cradles, jumbled internet aesthetics and in ready made objects that have served differing utility purposes. Engulfed in the romantic idea that newness is always a reference to what’s already made, QQ’s purpose resides in reuniting meaning between existing materials and ideas. Tapping into miscellaneous ponds, QQ jokingly says “life is a movie that makes no sense” and her practice is an attempt to navigate it.

images by PILOTENKUECHE or supplied by artist

In tune with such endeavor, she refers to her recent installation work created from transmuting AI imaging and symbols to earthy materials:  “the ultimate product of our products; something that has already been decided to exist”. Allured by the chaotic ebbs of life, QQ feels a “real high from looking at AI imaging as a destruction of the human spirit”. That’s the “hardcore style I resonate with”. 

In consonance with art as a liberating practice, QQ states that creation can bring “real strength to the soul”. Similarly, it can serve the purpose to achieve collective freedom. Through the commonality of experience offered by artistic practice, “people can create their own god and interpret their own spiritual drive” as well as understand that “our fate overlaps like bubbles”. QQ’s uses religious jargon as an act of radical subversion through which she aims “decentralize new forms of religion”.