Renowned contemporary artist Xia Hang has been commissioned to create a major new public art work for Sydney by TWT Property Group. Xia Hang’s Memory Tree commission will see the creation of a six-metre-high ‘tree’ out of intricate metal-work and kinetic-lighting in an Ultimo laneway in inner Sydney.

The Beijing-based Chinese artist, whose work is included in the White Rabbit Gallery collection and was featured in Bondi’s Sculpture by the Sea in 2017, is celebrated for his intricate sculptures created from stainless-steel parts that he individually designs and makes.

Memory Tree will be the first permanent public artwork for Xia Hang, who studied at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and has exhibited at Art Basel Miami, in Singapore, Moscow, ART Taipei and ART Singapore.

Xia Hang’s sculptures are inspired by his childhood love of animations such as the Transformers television series, which steered him towards a style he refers to as ‘Steampunk’ – the melding of ancient and traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery with virtual reality.