Ant sculptures, made of stainless steel and in various sizes, occupy the entrance and exhibition halls at Beijing's Today Art Museum, where Chinese artist Chen Zhiguang is holding his solo show, With Dignity. Photo provided to China Daily

"These personified figurines breathe in secular air, with their giant sizes and shiny appearance. But if you gaze at them for a while, you will start to feel these wordless, unreal figures becoming realer and realer. You can't help but admire them," Chen says.

Xu Gang, the exhibition's curator, says Chen's art philosophy is based on "aesthetics of experience", by which he converts his own and contemporary Chinese experiences of survival into those of ants.

"The two powerful words－'with dignity'－are synonymous with Chen's artistic representation. He tries to restore the meaning of respect, tradition and life in the tiny bodies of ants in the hope that every individual can achieve dignity in real life," he says.

If you go

10 am-6 pm, through June 4. Today Art Museum, Building 4, Pingod Community, 32 Baiziwan Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing .010-5876-0600.