Tender, Cute, and Absurd, Rong Bao’s Inflatable Sculptures Plug Into the ‘Emotional Wobble’
“Alien Babe No.2.” All images courtesy of Rong Bao, shared with permission
Tender, Cute, and Absurd, Rong Bao’s Inflatable Sculptures Plug Into the ‘Emotional Wobble’
July 17, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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From PVC, silicone-coated fabrics, nylon mesh, electronics, and other found or manipulated materials, Rong Bao creates oddly personable inflatable sculptures. “My fascination with inflatable structures began when I realized how absurd, tender, and unstable they could be—all at once,” the artist tells Colossal. “Unlike rigid materials, inflatables breathe, wobble, collapse, and revive. They seem alive, with a sense of humor and vulnerability that deeply resonates with me.”
Rong’s ongoing series of alien-like creatures tread the boundaries between humor and discomfort, abstraction and representation, and what she describes as “cuteness and existential instability.” The artist takes on a role akin to a playful mad scientist—just imagine Frankenstein’s unpredictable monster as a bouncy, neon pink confection.
“Alien Babe No.1”
Rong spends several weeks to months getting each composition just right by sketching, prototyping elements, testing inflation behavior and structural integrity, then fabricating the final piece. “It often involves a lot of trial and error—and a lot of laughter and despair in between,” she says.
Rong was recently featured in an episode of the BBC’s children’s television program, Go Get Arty, and is currently working on a commission for Harper’s Bazaar China that incorporates a traditional, lightweight silk fabric with deep cultural roots in China.
“I see my practice as a playground of soft contradictions—between seriousness and silliness, desire and failure, monumentality and deflation,” Rong says. “Many of my pieces are meant to be touched, entered, or even played with. I love it when viewers smile and laugh, and then suddenly feel a little unsettled. That moment of emotional wobble—that’s the space I’m after.”
Rong’s work was recently on view in Selfridges’ display windows, part of a series titled New Age in which the department store showcased 15 emerging artists. And she also recently completed a large-scale commission titled “Carnivorous Bloom” for Pinacoteca Agnelli in Torino, Italy. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
Selfridges installation view of “Crown of Perception”
Detail of “Alien Babe No.1”
“Enigma”
“Sanctuary of the Unclaimed”
“Pink Roundabout”
“Triple Bills”
Detail of “Alien Babe No.2”
“Unnamed Directory”
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