Today we’d like to introduce you to Xinyu Liu
Hi Xinyu, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a mixed-media artist currently based in New York, working across various mediums such as installations, sculpture, and video. My practice delves deeply into the emotional transformations that arise from lived experiences.
Before fully committing to art, I worked as a product manager at an omnichannel company in Shanghai. My life was steady but a bit monotonous, centered around the usual nine-to-five routine. During lunch breaks or time off, I’d often find myself looking at online and offline exhibitions, admiring artists who could dedicate themselves fully to their craft. Though I had stability, I couldn’t shake the desire to make art the center of my life.
Lacking any formal art background, I decided to come to the U.S. as a student, pursuing an MFA in Fine Art at the School of Visual Arts in New York. These past two years in school have been incredibly freeing and full of creativity.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all, I feel like it’s been full of challenges. First of all, there’s the language barrier. This was my first time studying abroad, and I’ve gone from struggling to understand conversations to being able to communicate effectively. Another major struggle has been the financial resources needed for creating my work. I don’t have a lot of money to produce large-scale pieces, which often leaves me feeling distressed.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My creative practice integrates various media and forms, exploring the intangible, unstable energies that permeate our surroundings, especially focusing on pivotal moments in spaces marked by architectural structures and emotional transformations. I’m particularly drawn to the emotional transitions people experience during migration, and I have a deep fascination with the ocean as a relatively free yet unpredictable entity. Unlike land, the ocean’s boundaries are fluid, challenging any single nation’s control. My work seeks to examine the intertwined relationship between shifting geopolitical borders and psychological boundaries, posing questions such as, “How do we define the intangible, flowing borders of the sea?” and “How do migrants balance their native cultural memories against the societal structures of a new country?”
My interest in the boundaries of the ocean and the concept of migration stems from my own experience of coming to the United States. During the long hours of flying over the Pacific, I could see my position on the airplane screen moving from Shanghai, nearing Japan, then Russia, Alaska, and Canada, leading me to wonder when exactly I entered other countries’ territory. Another layer of this fascination comes from the view out the airplane window: I saw the sea as I left Shanghai and the sea again just before landing in New York.
My work aims to capture moments where legal frameworks, economic realities, and personal emotions intersect, highlighting subtle tensions between stability and displacement, control and freedom. I explore the conflict between human rules and the uncontrollable forces of nature, taking inspiration from the confluence of history, politics, and natural elements. Through this approach, I critically examine the fragile boundaries shaping both personal and national identities, seeking to open dialogues around how these identities are constructed and contested.
I hope that those engaging with my work find themselves reflecting on the ways in which we navigate, define, and confront these boundaries, and I strive to reveal the complex and often uneasy balance between the forces that govern our lives and our own deeply personal experiences of place, belonging, and change.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Over the next 5-10 years, I think the art industry will see a growing integration of technology, with AI and digital tools becoming more prominent in artistic practices. For me personally, I want to keep evolving as an artist, producing works that are not only more precise and mature but also more engaging and relevant to contemporary issues. I also envision building stronger connections with communities through my work, perhaps through collaborations or interdisciplinary projects that bridge art with other fields. This could expand the impact of art, making it more accessible and meaningful to a wider audience.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: xinyu_studio
