Zhilin Xu

CSM, BA Fine Art, 2019-23

Biography from the artist: I work with an in-between sense of cultural belonging drawing from my experience of growing up between British and Chinese cultures. I rework conceptions of chinoiserie ornaments and forms of personal storytelling for East Asian femininity to occupy space and time in new ways. Looking back, my approach seems to follow the hope to derive experience of compassion from the injuries of history. I see subversive potential in chinoiserie to challenge the dismissal of the decorative by western art history and I try to define a positive use of the associations between chinoiserie, the decorative and the feminine. I try to creatively and tentatively tread out paths that might depart from the experience of an East Asian woman, and, as she navigates through her own experience, the paths thread through the dense, spiky jungles of complex conflicts entangling race, religion, and community traumas. They diverge, converge and meet in the new landscapes of the in-between.

My sculptures sometimes become props for my films which explore the emotional struggles of characters who are intercultural travellers. These characters are often based on marginalised historical figures who had intercultural experiences due to wars, migration, and colonialism.

My art account is my ‘website’: @artgracezx
My Vimeo Page link: https://vimeo.com/zhilinxu