The series of collages Spread consists in a combination of various cultures imagery gleaned from the Internet (political caricatures, medieval images, classic paintings, exotic bestiaries, etc.).
As traditional tapestries narrate epic scenes, this series of works features representations of historical events, portraits of political figures, mythological and religious scenes. These miscellanea of ideologies and cultural elements present various aspects of our understanding on the History of Humanity.
In “Double Nature”, viewers can see figures evocative of characters from a Japanese woodblock print, morphed to appear like centaurs, which are mythical creatures primarily associated with western tradition. The backdrop of the work is also reminiscent of traditional Chinese landscape painting. Xu examines the anthropological, historical, and social aspects of cultural heritage in a satirical manner.