Artist: Suzan Drummen
Collaboration of Shaanxi History Museum

Suzan Drummen, an internationally renowned installation artist, cooperated with the Shaanxi History Museum to produce a special large-scale public crystal art installation “Flower Dance in Tang Dynasty”, which was exhibited at exhibition Flourishing Recall of Tang Dynasty in Xi’an IMIX Park from 12 Feb 2022 to 20 March 2022. This work is made of tens of thousands of crystals, replicas of silver sachets with grape flower and bird patterns in Tang Dynasty, spherical mirrors and other materials. The inspiration of the composition comes from the exquisite and magnificent gold and silverware of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the gilt and pomegranate pattern silver box, the grape dragon and phoenix pattern silver bowl, the grape flower and bird pattern silver sachet and other national treasures.

The choice of crystal colors not only shows the splendor golden, yellow, purple and red of the Tang Dynasty, but also implies the femininity of ordinary women like pale purple and lilac, reproducing the colorful Tang Dynasty vividly. The dark black lines of velvet are the trace of the tail movement of an abstract phoenix, which, with the light reflection of colorful crystals and large mirror spheres, presents a dazzling feeling of flowing movements, as if opening a door of wonders. The mirror spheres remain level, echoing the balancing apparatus in the silver sachet with patterns of grapes, flowers, and birds. The main exhibition wall structure is refined based on the characteristic elements of the hollow pattern of the silver sachet with grape, flower and bird pattern, and the classic lotus petal pattern of He Jia Cun gold and silverware is integrated into the wall shape.

Suzan Drummen is good at abstract expression. With crystal as the medium of her artistic creation, she converted the modeling of the phoenix into abstract curves which are extended and repeated. The curves are composed of crystals, and the dazzling curves of different colors overlay each other to give the work a rhythmic feel. The infinite reflection of the crystal and the mirror spheres travel through time and space and memory. The artist hopes to express her yearning for the rich culture of the Tang Dynasty and respect for the exquisite art form through this rare opportunity of collaboration, and to integrate history into our present life by means of contemporary art.

Suzan’s crystal creations have been exhibited in art museums and public spaces all over the world. Her works are the continuous research and practice of space, illusion, colors, and optical refractions. Every magnificent work must be finished by hand, which usually takes a long time. All crystals seem to be vitalized and organically combined into a work. From a distance, it seems to be a clear and orderly pattern, but if you move closer, you will feel the visual challenge and perception limit due to the complicated details and multi-faceted refraction. Suzan hopes to create a strong visual experience for viewers, who can then discover a broader world from the perspectives of the mirrors and the dazzling refraction of crystal.