Ciane Xavier’s sculptures teeter between the charming and grotesque, the familiar and unfamiliar. At first, her human figures would come across as benign; they possess ideal proportions, their skin pearl white and tinted with sanguine hues. But one need not take a second look to see the anomalies: the animal headdress, the enlarged brain at the base, and the head caught in the middle of morphing into another being.

This process of transitioning between states lies at the heart of Xavier’s art practice. Having traveled and lived in more than 14 countries in her teens, she is aware that no condition or form is final. So in her projects, she explores the inevitable evolution of both living and nonliving, mining the possibilities of the human body and psyche, all the while alert in what is often lost in translation. As much as her works are about the mutable human nature, Xavier also broods over the society at large, which is in constant flux too.

A self-taught artist, Xavier has showcased her works in various galleries in the country, and has participated in group exhibitions and art fairs abroad, as in France, Germany, and the USA.