London-based photographic artist Catherine Hyland’s project Universal Experience has seen her travel through remote locations across China and Mongolia to capture large-format film shots of monumental religious statues that exist in surprisingly small, sparsely inhabited towns. Here, she talks about the latest part, a video portrait of the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue in Töv Province, Mongolia:

“Tsonjil Boldog is part of a new moving-image-component to my on-going series Universal Experience, looking at the nature of both landscapes and monuments scattered throughout China and Mongolia. 

“The video focuses on a 131 ft. statue of the Mongol Empire founder on horseback, wrapped in 250 tons of gleaming stainless steel. It is the latest in a horde of monuments that have appeared in Mongolia since the country threw off communism almost 20 years ago.

“Looking specifically at Khan’s desire to conquer and dominate, I wanted to show the opposing ways in which we psychologically manage a landscape that we are both part of and alien to.”