Provenance

In her series of inquiries on the genetic myth of personhood and community, Xin Liu visualizes her sequenced genetic code by assigning colors to the letters, AaCcGgTt. The digital sculpture in this exhibition is both a flower and a root system, signifying fertility in a hostile environment, the desert, where she grew up. It shares forms and thematic resonance with When we were flowers, a collaboration with local Uygur artisans in Hotan, Xinjiang, in which carpets were created using the Senna knot weaving method, with the color-coded background of the artist's genetic sequence and the traditional pattern of pomegranate flowers in its foreground. This sculpture is brought to life above the “Fog Desert” biome of Biosphere 2. Viewers can stroll the network of walkways above the sand, cacti, and other desert plants, to view this gorgeous, complex, and coded body via different angles and elevations.