Xu Cui’s artistic journey moves from shaping clay to entering a dialogue with wood.
During his early years at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, he worked extensively with clay, stone, and metal. These materials were controllable yet unresponsive, precise yet devoid of vitality. Over time, he sensed a diminishing perceptual connection between the body and the material.

Wood changed everything.
Wood has temperature, character, and direction. It resists and it responds. Through the physical encounter with wood, Xu rediscovered a renewed sense of bodily perception, shifting his practice from “shaping a material” to “listening to a material.”

Through cutting, carving, scraping, and burning, he allows internal emotions to surface on wood. Grain, knots, and texture become records of emotion, memory, and time rather than decoration. Each mark arises from the genuine interaction between body and material, where roughness and delicacy coexist.

In the philosophy of the Five Elements, Wood corresponds to the East, symbolizing growth, movement, and an upward-generating force. Xu Cui’s works carry this energy: they contain raw vitality while maintaining a quiet inner order. In his hands, wood becomes more than a medium. It becomes breath, an emotional vessel, and a presence that allows viewers to rediscover their own rhythm.

SOTACA on Xu Cui
In Xu Cui’s practice, wood is not merely a material but a breathing entity.
His use of cuts, textures, and layered marks amplifies the inherent force of wood, allowing emotion and time to settle visibly on the surface. His works emanate a quiet, grounded energy that reflects an Eastern sensibility toward material and presence.

SOTACA Pairing Note
Xu Cui’s wall-mounted wooden works are highly adaptable across interior styles, especially minimal, modern, wabi-sabi, natural Japanese, raw-wood, and contemporary eclectic spaces. Their carved textures and grain resonate beautifully with white walls, pale woods, fine-grain stone, and linen textiles, while also softening vintage or industrial contexts. Whether placed on a living room feature wall, bedroom, hallway, or staircase landing, his works integrate with restraint and elevate the atmosphere with material depth and calm structure.