Specially commissioned for UCCA’s most public exhibition space, Jennifer Wen Ma will create a tableau vivant of live plants painted in black Chinese ink, leaving only their flowers dressed in vibrant colors. Suspended in the Nave, the piece is scaled at 20 metres long, three metres wide and eight metres high.. The bottom and top halves of the garden are mirror images of one another, creating the effect of a reflection on water or a three-dimensional Rorschach blot. During the exhibition, the plants will grow, and green will poke through the black. Referencing the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon, Ma’s installation examines the illusion of material wealth and the power of nature and myth, even as it continues her exploration of the contemporary possibilities of China’s most “traditional” medium.

For more information, please read the “Jennifer Wen Ma: Hanging Garden in Ink” press release.