Xia's pieces reveal complex process of creating them

[Photo provided to China Daily]

The exhibition is being held at Parkview Green Art, a venue in the capital's 798 art hub, through July 10.

Xia says his works are largely born out of "a desire to play". He used mechanical parts when he was working with a series of sculptures in 2011. He also reconnected with the childhood passion of rebuilding things and started to develop a new approach to creation that is sculpted by different components.

He spent two years studying how to design detachable parts. But he had to make sure that they would look beautiful after being installed.

Xia graduated with a bachelor's degree in sculpture from the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province, of which he is a native.

He is inspired by animation, video games and films. He has been playing the game World of Warcraft, which was recently adapted into a film. He is also a fan of sci-fi films, such as The Matrix.