Horizons are where vision meets the unknown thresholds between here and what lies ahead. Fluid implies change, permeability, transformation. In our contemporary world, boundaries—between physical and virtual, cultural and personal, historical and speculative—are constantly in motion, being redrawn, dissolved, or reinforced.
Fluid Horizons brought together emerging artists and designers whose practices investigate this very fluidity. Through material exploration, digital intervention, and embodied memory, they confront the instability of categorization and the blurring of disciplines. The exhibition opens a space to question what it means to exist between places, between identities, between states of being.
From handmade paper imbued with ancient symbolism to glitching animations of emotional residue, from sculptural gestures cast from subconscious movement to portraits that speak of survival and truth—this is a space of porousness, uncertainty, and potential.
Fluid Horizons, May 27th – June 1st, 2025,
Perfetti Gallery
Art Opening: May 27th, 6PM–8 PM
Producer: Yiru Wang Curator: Jiabin Xu Curatorial Execution: Xeushijia Wang Co-curatorial Team: Saturn VII Studio
Participating Artists: Xinyue Liang, Zixiang Zhang, Jiaqi Liao, Mingzhuo Zheng, Hui Zhang, Xueting Chen, Helen Mengzhu Li, Suwen Wang, Zilin Gong, Bingge Liu, Yiqi Zhao, Xueshijia Wang, Ruiben He & Yutong Jiang, Lexiong Ying, Icy Qiao, Di Cao (Jeremy)
Selected Featured Artists & Works
Jiaqi Liao CLUSTER SERIES seeks to materialize the intangible, to archive fleeting sensations and the precious, ephemeral experience of inhabiting a human body. It reflects on the vulnerability of the body, the subconscious mind, and the space in between. Subconscious gestures are traced in clay, preserving material memory and prioritizing touch over interpretation—evoking presence beyond language.
Mingzhuo Zheng “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” This portrait series honors marginalized individuals who have experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation and identity. As someone with shared experiences, Zheng offers empathy and authenticity, hoping the images reflect emotional truth and dignity.
Icy Qiao Self-inflicted Pain inspired by the artist’s memory of her mother cutting herself out of family photographs. Through live-action and animation, it dissects imagined pain, emotional repetition, and psychological detachment—blurring the line between internal suffering and external reality.
Zilin Gong Ring Toss is a two-channel video framed as a street game. Viewers watch knock-off handbags become targets, pointing to how social media and consumerism fabricate desire through idealized identities. The work critiques cycles of imitation, anxiety, and status illusion.
Lexiong Ying How do you verify that you are you? examines the paradox of digital security. Using the Möbius strip as a metaphor, Ying illustrates the loop of password creation, forgetting, and resetting. It’s a satire of modern authentication, reflecting on its psychological burden and the absurdity of digital identity maintenance.
Yiqi Zhao Incomplete visualizes the aftermath of childhood abandonment. Disjointed limbs float in voids, edges bleeding into ink—metaphors for fractured identity. Ballpoint pen marks stand as permanent scars, while erased areas suggest futile efforts of self-repair. The work inhabits the space between damage and healing.
Zixiang Zhang After the Remains II fuses textile waste with living mycelium to reveal processes of decay and renewal. The work resembles fossilized landscapes, challenging static definitions of sculpture and highlighting the role of fungal life in transformation and ecological interdependence.
Xueshijia Wang Echoes in the Fog captures the stillness of a mist-shrouded countryside. A solitary utility pole becomes a symbol of fragile connection and quiet endurance. The hazy landscape dissolves detail, evoking the emotional ambiguity of distance and disappearance.
Xinyue Liang Fragility of Mud by Porcelain and Paper draws on the 800-year-old Dai papermaking tradition from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. Using eleven handcraft processes—including soaking, pounding, and drying—the artist integrates mud, pigments, and fragments of ancient writing (oracle bone script, bamboo slips, cuneiform) to explore cultural inheritance, ritual, and the material transmission of history.
Exhibition Summary
Fluid Horizons explores a world in motion—where identities, materials, and meanings shift constantly. Through diverse practices, the artists reflect on boundaries as spaces of change rather than division. The exhibition invites viewers to embrace uncertainty and discover new forms of connection, expression, and becoming.
All images: Installation view Fluid Horizons at Perfetti Gallery Courtesy Yiru Wang and the artist
