The Fabric of Time: Individual And Collective

Xiaohan first group exhibition in France

In the world we inhabit, time exists simultaneously as an invisible current and as a material trace. It emerges quietly within the brushstroke of a work, while also weaving itself through the constellation of an exhibition. The Fabric of Time is an exhibition series concerned with both “continuity” and “transformation.” Each iteration introduces new threads into the ongoing weave of temporal experience which responding to the present while revisiting the past, allowing individual expressions to locate themselves within a broader collective framework.

The subtitle of this edition, Individual and Collective, examines how artists construct their own fabric of time through the intersection of personal experience and collective memory. The works presented may function as witnesses to time, or as fragments of transition and change. We believe that each artist’s participation contributes to the weaving of a richer, more resilient, and more expansive fabric.

In Am I. I Am?, Xiaohan crafts a layered, sensory short film where audio rises and falls unpredictably, rendering familiar scenes strangely alien. Small batteries drop into a glass bottle, their delicate sounds building a surreal soundscape. Only at the end do we realise these batteries belong to her hearing aid, a quiet revelation that reframes the entire work as a deeply personal reflection on the toll of hearing loss.

Xiaohan's practice is rooted in her lived experience and her exploration of what it means to exist in a world shaped by sound. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, she has transformed it into a powerful source of creativity. Her work gently invites viewers to step into her perspective, to sense sound not just as an auditory experience but as something felt in the body, in memory, and the space between people.

Written by Jacques Tenenhaus, Director of Galerie Véron