Chen Wenling: Creating a new spring by sculptures

Chinese artist Chen Wenling is holding his solo show, Everything Is Awesome, to display his latest sculptures in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chen Wenling's first show since his struggle with nasopharyngeal cancer displays more than 30 large sculptures in a green patch of Beijing's Shunyi district.

Indeed, the thrust of the show calls upon viewers to consider questions of mortality and a spirit of not only survival but even joy in the face of adversity.

Everything Is Awesome is Chen's largest outdoor exhibition to date.

The Beijing-based artist made most of the displayed works before his 2014 diagnosis.

"Art is my salvation. It makes me happy and gives me the vitality to fight cancer," the 47-year-old tells China Daily at the show's April 2 opening.

Playfulness permeates his works.

His Red Memory series－that of the slender, crimson characters－won the artist international acclaim in 2000. The series appears at the ongoing show as individuals appreciating trees and flowers.