About

I am Xinran Chen ( 陈心然 ), also known as Connie. I was born in Guangzhou, China, in 2000. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Printmaking from the China Academy of Art and continued my postgraduate studies in Print at the RCA. I currently live and work in Hangzhou.

As an interdisciplinary artist, I enjoy working with a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, video, installation, and performance art. I am passionate about using materials with a handmade quality, such as printmaking, watercolor, and ceramics, to create my art. Through various media, my works present rich textures and layers, offering viewers profound experiences and reflections.

My works explore the connections between nature, animals, plants, the human body and the spiritual world. Rooted in my own experiences, I strive to present issues from a personal perspective, making abstract themes state tangible through visual representation.

The inspiration for my graduation exhibition piece “Emotional Gut”, came from my personal experience with stomach issues. I often feel discomfort in my stomach when I am emotionally distressed. When I encountered the idea that the stomach is an “emotional organ”, it was a revelation for me! The gut-brain axis theory further confirmed the connection between the two. In this work, I visualized the relationship between the stomach and emotions. I created various twisted and deformed stomach shapes using clay, drew geometric patterns on paper, and used resin on the table to suggest the fluidity of emotions. How do we digest our emotions?

 

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