London’s spring sky resides as much as the exhibition’s title—Partly Cloudy—this April, when Xianghan Wang’s newest creation is unveiled. Contained in the M P Birla Millennium Artwork Gallery, a big modern area nestled inside The Bhavan—London’s famend institute of Indian artwork and tradition—guests wander by means of an environment of quiet anticipation. Curated by Y Manifesto, the three-day exhibition Partly Cloudy makes use of meteorological phenomena as a poetic framework to discover the complexities of identification, notion, and existential ambiguity. The very phrase “partly cloudy” indicators a liminal state—“neither totally illuminated nor wholly obscured”—and the gallery brims with artwork that inhabits these in-between realms. Relatively than providing any tidy decision, Partly Cloudy challenges viewers to navigate the nuanced interaction of materiality and immateriality, presence and absence, discovering which means within the haze between understanding and unknowing.
In a dimly lit alcove, one set up glows with a peculiar attract. It’s Xianghan Wang’s immersive VR piece The Rhythm of Tai Chi, recent from successful a coveted Purple Dot Design Award and now making its London debut. In an period outlined by speedy technological shifts, Xianghan Wang is a uncommon visionary who grounds innovation in heritage. The Los Angeles–based mostly XR and movement designer—at present at Apple—continues to captivate worldwide audiences along with her immersive creations that mix digital artistry, ancestral knowledge, and narrative depth. Her work redefines the probabilities of spatial computing and immersive media, providing a considerate, emotionally wealthy strategy to storytelling by means of know-how.
A Purple Dot Award–successful challenge, The Rhythm of Tai Chi is distinguished by its means to visualise Qi—the interior power believed to stream by means of the physique in Tai Chi philosophy. Historically, Qi is felt however by no means seen, described by means of metaphor and instinct fairly than literal type. In her work, Xianghan reimagines this invisible drive utilizing movement monitoring and real-time animation. As customers transfer by means of the VR atmosphere, their gestures are mirrored by trails of glowing power—a visible metaphor for Qi that makes the idea tangible and emotionally resonant. This strategy presents not only a digital demonstration, however an embodied expertise. By permitting customers to see the rhythm of their motion and breath, the challenge bridges instinct and interplay in a manner that’s accessible to each learners and skilled practitioners.
“It’s not nearly exhibiting Tai Chi—it’s about embodying it. We needed folks to really feel the rhythm, the breath, the power, even when they’ve by no means studied it earlier than,” Xianghan explains. Her intent is obvious: to make use of immersive know-how not for spectacle, however for emotional and cultural resonance. The result’s a peaceable, intuitive expertise that connects physique, thoughts, and digital area—an paintings that teaches because it evokes.
With over fifteen worldwide design awards to her title—together with Purple Dot, IF Design Awards, AIXR XR Awards Finalist, and the DNA Paris Design Awards—Xianghan has firmly established herself on the intersection of artwork, innovation, and heritage. Her works have been exhibited from New York to Italy, and now London, constantly drawing consideration for his or her poetic stability of know-how and soul. Every new challenge reaffirms her dedication to honoring cultural reminiscence whereas pushing the boundaries of digital design.
Her affect can be evident by means of her roles as a juror and visitor speaker within the worldwide inventive group. Xianghan has served as a decide for varied international design competitions and hackathons, the place she brings a crucial eye to tasks that fuse innovation with cultural and emotional depth. She has additionally been invited as a visitor speaker at establishments and organizations such because the College of Visible Arts (SVA), the Trend Institute of Know-how (FIT), and the VR/AR Affiliation (VRARA), the place she shares her insights on XR storytelling, movement design, and human-centered innovation. By means of these contributions, she actively shapes conversations round the way forward for immersive media and evokes others to discover how know-how could be a software for each creativity and cultural continuity.
Xianghan has firmly planted herself on the intersection of artwork, innovation, and heritage, and her work is a residing instance of how historical knowledge can dance with trendy know-how. Within the Partly Cloudy exhibition, this sensibility presents a hopeful through-line: even amid uncertainty, there are experiences that floor us. Because the final guests drift out into the London evening, they carry with them the reminiscence of luminous shapes and quiet revelations. The impression is refined but indelible: Xianghan Wang is designing for presence in a manner that makes the previous really feel vividly alive within the current, illuminating a path towards the long run.
