Katie Paterson has broadcast the sounds of a melting glacier live, mapped all the dead stars known to humanity, compiled an archive of darkness from the depths of the universe, created a light bulb that recreates the experience of moonlight, and even sent a recast meteorite back into space. Evoking the experience of the Romantic sublime, her works prompt feelings of humility, wonder, and melancholy. Subtle in gesture yet vast in scope, Paterson’s practice contemplates humanity’s place within the immense temporal and spatial scales of nature and the cosmos.

This exhibition will present sixteen of the artist’s installation works and two performance pieces. In addition, a new water-based kinetic installation will unfold in Gallery Dune No. 7, tracing the elemental rhythms of flow, condensation, and dispersal. As Paterson’s first solo institutional show in China, the exhibition will reflect on the human condition within the context of geological time and transformation. Paterson’s works draw on advanced technologies and specialized knowledge to express philosophical, poetic, and deeply intimate encounters between humans and the natural world. Combining a Romantic sensibility with research-based methodology, conceptual rigor, and a minimalist aesthetic, the exhibition will stand as an invitation for viewers to experience the dissolution of boundaries between themselves, time, and the edges of the cosmos. This exhibition is curated by UCCA Assistant Curator Zhang Yao.

About the Artist

Katie Paterson (b. 1981, Scotland) received a BA from Edinburgh College of Art and an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London. Paterson is a Scotland-based artist who has exhibited internationally, including presentations in London, New York, Berlin, and Seoul, and has participated in major exhibitions at institutions including Turner Contemporary, Hayward Gallery, Tate Britain, Kunsthalle Wien, MCA Sydney, Guggenheim Museum, and The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. She is the recipient of the South Bank Award for Visual Arts and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Edinburgh.