Shen Shaomin

Shen returned to China while working on his skeletal creatures because of the many animal protection laws in Australia preventing him from acquiring bones.

Shen got the idea for this work when he was perusing a second-hand market and found confidential plans for the military aircraft Fighter-6.

It highlights the deadly, brutal nature of weapons of war by exposing the machinery beneath the metal exterior.

Michael Young wrote that the wires and pulleys on Shen's plants are "implements of torture and the props on which the organism depends to survive".

During his research, he happened upon a manual detailing the process of bonsai-making and recognised its similarities to foot binding: They both drag and twist limbs to make them serve human interests.

"[10] It was doubled in size to highlight the Chinese tendency to create oversize, extravagant buildings that stand in stark contrast to the poverty of the population.

Thus, Shen created this model to show how much larger and more extravagant Tiananmen would need to become to maintain its appearance in relation to these other buildings.

[citation needed] This series is composed of several hyper-real silicone animals stripped of their fur, including a cat, a chicken, pigs, sheep, and a lamb (among others).

[11] This series was shown at Shen's solo exhibition, The Day After Tomorrow in 2011 at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney.

The exhibition's title refers to the work's focus on themes of evolution and uncertainty, and particularly emphasises the impact of humans in the world as a consequence of their search for freedom and progress.