Pengxiao Xu

Pengxiao is a second year PhD student in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, majoring geochemistry. He is currently working on constraining oxygen level in Earth history and is interesting in exploring habitability of exoplanet.

“FADING MEMORY” CHARCOAL ON PAPER, 18" X 24" I believe memory is the thing that defines who we are. For good or bad, with joy or sorrow, memory connects me to the person that I was, the person that smiled and cried to become who I am. But memory can’t last forever, it fades through time. Sometimes we can turn to specific objects like old photos to wake distant memory, sometimes parts of our memory just disappear in time, like tears in rain. When memory fades, I feel like a part of me dies. So I drew the left part of this portrait as abstract outlines to represent the dying or disappearing process. That clock in the background is a symbol of time. Unlike me, the clock is not fading, because time is eternal.

“CIRCLE OF LIFE” GRAPHITE ON PAPER, 18" X 20" The flowers are blooming, the eye is bright. Forget the routine but go grasp the light. In dream they laugh and in laughter they fall. If they have done once, they will do once more. Who is now living, must go beyond border. Who is now in chaos, might return to order.