Zhan Wang is one of China’s premier sculptors, and his works often explore the areas where religion, personal belief and science intersect. His current exhibition “My Personal Universe,” now on at the UCCA, is a series of metal-plated rocks strung from the ceiling in replication of an exploding boulder. We joined a UCCA members’ trip to Zhan Wang’s studio to check out some of his other works.

Zhan Wang makes rocks using a machine that imitates forces of nature, such as wind and rain. After mixing the necessary ingredients to make the pieces in a separate machine, the fledgling rock is placed in a glass-enclosed case to undergo the weather treatment, which advances the rocks’ ‘age.’ Nearby is an ATM machine that doles out deities on demand, while across the room lies a pharmacy of pills in containers shaped like small Buddhas. In a separate workspace Zhan Wang encases large ‘scholar’s rocks’ in metal, in another he creates large sculptures. In the spirit of constant invention, next to his office door is a large blackboard, covered in scribbles of ideas and plans.