Rongjie Ding

About

Rongjie Ding was born in China and deeply influenced by Chinese culture. She focuses on researching various cultural rituals and cultural groups, hoping that people can draw strength from her works.

Life Towards Death
Chinese philosophers believed that everything in the universe is cyclical, and the ancient Chinese did not consider death to be the end of life, but rather the separation of soul and body, Death was the process by which life existed and perished. Chinese ancestors conceived of an ideal world after death, with a roaring fire serving as a bridge connecting the real world with the world after death. People communicate with the dead by burning paper during funerals and mourning ceremonies to express their grief and thoughts about the dead.

Fire has the magical power to transform cheap paper into sacred objects, and it can send burned paper products into real objects to the world after death, which is considered a process of cosmic energy extinction and growth. The work reconstructs this ancient mourning ritual with the burning of paper at its core. A large number of pieces of paper bearing blessing motifs are suspended from a supporting frame to form a giant sculptural garment. The pieces of paper are finally burned, completing the ritual of energy circulation in the light of the fire, which is likewise a process of life towards death. People dance and communicate with the other world around the fire, and the fire lights up a small space in the darkness, lighting up the spinning footsteps and flying sparks. As the ceremony progressed, people were enveloped by the heat of the flame and got a moment of spiritual warmth.