Shencheng Xu’s sculptures typically shun practicality. Xu’s pieces are not the kind of public art which double as city benches or shade for lounging park visitors. His sculptures are figurative. They inhabit their space foremost and finally as art.

Eschewing utility does not mean that Xu ignored placement when he conceived of “Sky.” Partially inspired by Bernini’s “Portrayal of the Ecstasy of St. Theresa,” Xu wanted to incorporate the light and the sky to draw the viewer’s gaze upwards and enhance the figure of the striding horse which mounts his sculpture. It is this equestrian figure and what it may say about Xu’s native China, his efforts to explore the binding of east and west, and representations of faith and history which is fundamental to appreciating “Sky.”