Biography
Waddington Custot is pleased to present 'Gardiens du Temps', the first UK exhibition by acclaimed Chinese artist and designer Jiang Qiong Er. Known internationally for bridging traditional Chinese craftsmanship with contemporary design, Qiong Er presents a series of sculptural installations, wax paintings, and design objects that reimagine ancient Chinese mythology and cultural symbols through 21st century motifs. Through this, the artist offers a meditation on time, renewal, and cultural memory. Her works draw on centuries-old narratives while asking urgent questions about cultural preservation and transformation today.
At the centre of the exhibition is ‘XII Calls’, a bronze installation inspired by mythical creatures from ancient civilisations Each figure embodies a universal value: Bravery, Wisdom, Equality, Nature, Fraternity, Exploration, Time, Inclusion, Benevolence, Authenticity, Peace and Freedom. These hybrid, syncretic beings form a contemporary bestiary addressing urgent questions about cultural preservation in a rapidly evolving world.
First unveiled on the façade of the Guimet Museum in Paris in 2024, one set of ‘XII Calls’ has since been acquired for UNESCO’s permanent collection, displayed at the organisation’s Paris headquarters alongside Alberto Giacometti’s ‘Walking Man’, testament to the enduring, universal values represented by Qiong Er’s designs. The acquisition reflects Qiong Er’s inclusion in other prestigious permanent collections worldwide, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum. As Qiong Er explains:
“Art is a gentle form of cultural dialogue. It transcends borders and ideologies, reconnecting people through emotion and symbolism… It can be heard by the world without having to be translated.”
In ‘XII Calls – Wax Paintings’, a series of wax paintings debuting in London, Qiong Er extends her exploration of time and transformation into wax for the first time. Each work begins as a charcoal drawing, transferred to a silicone plate and overlaid with molten wax at around 80 °C, repeated dozens or even hundreds of times. Through this accretive process the image is absorbed, inverted, and embedded within the wax, whose white expanse becomes the artist’s ‘new paper.’ For Qiong Er, wax is both medium and metaphor: a substance capable of solidifying and melting, moving backward and forward, holding time in suspension. In these works, memories and emotions are not fixed to a surface but preserved within a luminous, tactile depth, where image and temporality converge.
Another highlight is ‘HER VOICE’, a powerful installation dedicated to Nüshu, an endangered women’s script of Hunan province. Translating literally as ‘women’s script’, Nüshu was the only writing system in the world created and used exclusively by women, offering them a secret mode of communication in a patriarchal society. Taking impetus from this powerful symbol of bravery, the work takes inspiration from other Chinese, calligraphic methods: a cursive calligraphy that symbolised freedom, the power of authenticity from ‘Oracle Bone Script’, and the beauty and core strength from ‘Seal Script’, Qiong Er creates a 21st-Century Nüshu. By integrating its flowing characters into wood-and-carbon-fibre cabinetry, Qiong Er reclaims and amplifies a tradition once hidden from public view. Subtly tilted shelves within the cabinetry challenge conventional design, continuing the script’s tradition of coded resilience and communication.
In ‘Gardiens du Temps', Qiong Er reminds audiences that ancient symbols and forgotten scripts are not static relics but evolving languages. Her design practice offers a powerful cultural dialogue that “transcends borders and ideologies, reconnecting people through emotion and symbolism”.
