ECHO OF LIFE collection3 Artworks

Xue Wang’s “Echo of Life” — Reawakening the Spirit of Frankenstein in Bournemouth

When Mary Shelley penned Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus in 1818, she could never have imagined that more than two centuries later, her creation would continue to spark the imagination of artists around the world. This autumn, Shelley’s spirit comes home — quite literally — as internationally acclaimed artist Xue Wang unveils her latest UK exhibition, Echo of Life, at Westover Gallery, Bournemouth.

From Frankenstein to “Furankenstein” and Beyond

In her newest body of work, Xue Wang delves into themes of reanimation, transformation, and the blurred line between innocence and monstrosity — the very same questions that lie at the heart of Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Among the collection is her striking piece Furankenstein, a whimsical yet haunting homage to the Gothic masterpiece. With her signature blend of vintage surrealism, pop culture nostalgia, and dark humour, Wang reimagines the Frankenstein myth with charm and subversion. The result is a creature at once familiar and fantastically strange — a mirror of both human vulnerability and creative obsession.

Mary Shelley’s Bournemouth Connection

The setting for Echo of Life could not be more fitting. Bournemouth is not only home to one of Dorset’s most vibrant art scenes — it’s also the final resting place of Mary Shelley herself. The author of Frankenstein was laid to rest in St Peter’s Churchyard in 1851, brought here by her son, Sir Percy Shelley, and his wife, Jane Shelley, who lived nearby at Boscombe Manor.

Her grave, which she shares with her pioneering parents Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, stands as a quiet monument to imagination, intellect, and rebellion — qualities that also define Wang’s art.

An International Artist Finds a New Home in Dorset

Welcoming Xue Wang to Westover Gallery marks a significant cultural moment for Bournemouth and the wider Dorset art community. Usually based in London and exhibiting internationally across the USA and Asia, Wang’s presence here is both a privilege and a statement — celebrating the South Coast’s growing reputation on the global art map.

Hosting Echo of Life represents not only a major artistic investment but also a symbolic welcome in erosion — a poetic reflection on the passage of time, the reshaping of boundaries, and the ongoing dialogue between tradition and transformation that Wang’s work so vividly expresses.

Echoes Between Art and Legacy

Like Shelley’s own creation, Wang’s characters inhabit a liminal world — part human, part imagination, stitched together from fragments of past and present. Echo of Life doesn’t simply display paintings; it creates an atmosphere, a mythology, and a conversation between the living and the remembered.

In Bournemouth — where Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein rests in the earth and Xue Wang’s Furankenstein rises on the gallery wall — two creative spirits meet across time. Both women challenge what it means to create, to reanimate, and to endure.

Echo of Life is more than an exhibition; it is a resurrection of story and soul — a reminder that, as both Shelley and Wang understand, art itself is the truest echo of life.