Shang Gao is an artist based in Melbourne whose work focuses on the reclamation of materials and the simulation of natural textures. The core of her research is to explore how materials generate new visual and tactile languages in the process of “simulation” and “reconstruction”. In doing so, she questions the boundaries between the natural and the artificial, the real and the replica.
For Shang Gao, material is not only a medium for creation, but also a way of thinking. It is transformed from an everyday medium into something more tangible, with a texture and sense of life that seems to come from nature through the processes of tearing, layering and crystallisation. The coexistence of fragility and resilience of paper makes it both an organism and a carrier of memory. The process of creation also becomes a practice of observation and listening, where the artist no longer dominates the material, but allows it to reveal its own rhythms and qualities in interaction.
Her practice is inspired by phenomenology and ecological aesthetics, and sees the material as a presence with perception and language. Materials are no longer just passive media, but a living organism capable of communication. Through tactile interaction with materials, she explores the perceptual connection between human consciousness and the material world. During the creation process, the movements of the hands, the traces of time and the changes in matter come together to form a silent dialogue, making creation an extension of experience and perception. In these seemingly fragile but tough structures, art becomes a language of restoration and a gentle inquiry into nature and one’s own existence.
Shang Gao, ‘Wings of Lightness’, 2025, heat shrink paper, UV-resin, borax
