Jon StojanIn the diverse world we live in, art and design are often seen as two separate tracks. However, for Xiaodong Ma, not only do these two intersect, but they also intertwine and inspire each other. Born in 1991 in Nanjing, China, and now working and living in Chicago, Xiaodong Ma is not only a seasoned industrial and commercial designer but also a visual artist who dares to explore. His story is a journey of cross-cultural understanding, innovative exploration, and self-discovery.
Xiaodong’s artistic practice began with an endless interest in the complex relationship between the natural and the man-made world. His three-year MFA experience at the California College of the Arts had the most profound impact on him. There, he not only mastered the basic skills of art and commercial design, but more importantly, he learned how to use art as a language to express his views and feelings. Xiaodong’s artworks are not just visual delights; they are manifestations of his personal contemplations, tools and methodologies for exploring and understanding the world. Xiaodong excels in challenging people’s inherent impressions of everyday objects through the transformation between two and three-dimensional forms in his creative process. This method not only shows his keen insight into the form of objects but also demonstrates his ability to transform everyday items into thought-provoking artworks.
A key step in Xiaodong Ma’s artistic career originated from his unique observation of everyday objects. In his first visual art piece ‘Re-Formation: Shadow Evolution’, Xiaodong drew inspiration from a pile of paper mock-ups from his commercial product design projects. The transformation of flat, two-dimensional sheets of paper into three-dimensional forms through folding, rolling, and crumpling, and the shadows and positive-negative spaces they created under the sunlight deeply fascinated him. Inspired by these shadows and spaces, Xiaodong created the “Re-formation: Shadow Evolution” series. Through transforming the positive and negative spaces of three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional black and white representations, this series showcases the interplay of light and shadow on paper. This is not only an exploration of different spatial forms but also an innovative attempt to challenge the boundaries of visual art, perfectly demonstrating his ability to transform everyday phenomena and details into profound and thought-provoking artworks.
Following ‘Re-Formation: Shadow Evolution’, Xiaodong Ma further deepened his artistic practice. Around the concept of Re-formation, he created the “Reformation: Object-Image-Object” series. In this project, he deconstructed and reassembled everyday objects, using these reconfigured items as unique painting tools to create distinctive textures of dots, lines, and shapes. These works not only showcase the potential of transforming between two and three dimensions but also encourage viewers to reexamine these everyday objects from a fresh perspective. Although some of these works are hard to recognize in their original forms, the iterative process of the objects themselves initiates a new way of dialogue, leading people to explore the deeper meanings behind textures and forms. Through such practice, Xiaodong Ma continues to challenge the visual inertia of his audience.
In addition to the Re-formation visual art series, Xiaodong Ma continued to deepen his exploration of the concepts of “change” and “growth”. He is particularly fond of capturing dynamic changes in his works, experimenting not only in two-dimensional forms but also in the diversity of three-dimensional shapes. In his “2e-” project, Xiaodong used the metal electrolysis process to create metal forms resembling corals, mushrooms, and crystals, drawing inspiration from his experience in industrial product design surface treatment techniques. This creative process showcases the unique intersection between his industrial design background and artistic creation. The “2e-” series won the 2023 MUSE Design Award Platinum for its innovation in utilizing industrial metal waste.
Xiaodong’s sources of inspiration are diverse. He believes that life itself is an infinite source of inspiration. For him, capturing inspiration requires not only keen insight and observation of details but more importantly, maintaining curiosity and a hunger for everything. Personal experiences and reflections are also important sources of his creative inspiration. For instance, the electrolysis principle in the “2e-” project stems from his deep understanding of the electroplating process, while the fluorescent powder used in “Re-formation: The Color and Texture of Music” comes from memories of playing with glow sticks in his childhood. His ‘Repairing Society: A Nostalgia Future’ series was inspired by the Japanese traditional repair craft of Kintsugi. Through these unique sources of inspiration and life experiences, Xiaodong Ma’s works not only demonstrate the potential of design and technological innovation in artistic creation but also reflect his unique personal experiences.
In Xiaodong Ma’s artistic creation process, his industrial design background plays an important role. He has worked at Philips and iFIT, and is now a senior industrial designer at SRAM’s road bike headquarters, focusing on medical and healthy living design. In his day-to-day work, Xiaodong’s industrial design philosophy is rational and engineering-oriented, focusing on meeting commercial goals and serving brands and consumers.
Xiaodong Ma has made significant contributions in both industrial design and visual art. His designed products have won numerous international design awards, including the MUSE Design Award Platinum, IF Product Design Award, A’Design Award, and Red Dot Design Award. Additionally, his visual art works have been widely exhibited and recognized internationally, with displays in important exhibitions in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea, and Germany, such as Contemporary Venice 2023, Holy Art Berlin, and LST 7th Annual. Furthermore, his art and design works have also attracted attention and coverage from top art and design media such as Itsliquid, Core77, Yanko Design, and AI-Tiba9.
Xiaodong Ma’s story is not just about art and design; it’s about how to fuse the two to create a new visual language and way of thinking. His works are not only a pursuit of beauty but also a profound contemplation and reinterpretation of daily life. In his artistic journey, we see an artist and designer who is constantly exploring, maintaining curiosity, and never being satisfied. Each step he takes pushes the boundaries of art and design, opening new fields of creation.