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Mei Xian Qiu
Portfolio Artist Statement Online Information   Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, 8075 2010, C-Print, 21"x30.5"   Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, 385 2010, C-Print on Metallic Paper, 10"x20"  Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, 3558 2010, C-Print, 21"x30.5"  Qiu's photographs, installations, and mixed media work play with archetypal perceptions and myths, often jarring them out of context and taking them to unexpected avenues. They are post-colonial, intercultural, have a storybook quality, and are sometimes bitingly insular. There continually exist the tension between the expected generic quality of representation and what is in front of the viewer, between the actuality of the scene and what the scene should like, because of the elision of necessary components.
Mei Xian Qiu (aka Cindy Suriyani) is a Los Angeles based artist. She was born in the small town of Pekalongan, in mid
Java, Indonesia, to a third generation Chinese minority family. At birth, she was given various names in preparation
for societal collapse and variant potential futures, a Chinese name, an American name and an Indonesian name given by
her parents, as well as a Catholic name by the local priest. In the aftermath of the Chinese and Communist genocide,
the family immigrated to the United States. She was moved back and forth several times between the two countries during
her childhood Ð her parents initial reaction to what they perceived as the amorality of life in the West countered
with the uncertainty of life in Java. Partially as a result of a growing sense of restlessness, her father joined the
U.S. Air force and the family lived all across the country, sometimes staying in one place for just a month at a time.
She has also been based in Europe, China, and Indonesia as an adult. |
