Artist Wang Lei’s No 4 Cultural China - Dynasty No 4 is on show at the Today Art Museum in Beijing on July 25, 2020. [Photo by Yang Xiaoyu/chinadaily.com.cn]

And the form of paper has vanished in a roster of showpieces, seemingly having metamorphosed into other materials such as plaster, stone, and even porcelain.

Other pieces that have attracted intense attention from viewers include Wang Lei's delicate paper-woven Chinese robe and tapestry made of yarn from slicing and twisting newspapers and dictionary pages; Lei Lei's A Jar's Nirvana-Rebirth 1, a withered porcelain-like jar juxtaposed with an intact one, both made from glutinous paper and honey; and Wang Weiwei's Expect, which appears to be a stone woman statue but is actually made of a blend of ink and pulp.