XIENI ZHOU

XIENI ZHOU

XIENI ZHOU XIENI ZHOU

Natural drawing on a piece of paper_1 [Photography & digital collage | 50 x 34cm | 2021] NFS

Xieni Zhou is a Chinese visual artist currently living in London. She received her MA Fine Art and MA Illustration degrees from Camberwell College of Art and Royal College of Art, respectively.

Curiosity begins with the cyclical phenomenon of decay and regeneration in nature, Xieni aims to capture the fragile and transitional details of the natural world as visible traces. The focus is on time-based drawing practices, investigating how people perceive time through environmental changes and how these sensory variations evoke a sense of the value of being in a place. By examining the perspectives of our ecological identity, Xieni hopes to understand and reflect on how humans relate to nature in society today.

“Igniting a piece of paper, the burning traces gradually unravel in the movement of the air and wind, positive and negative shapes balanced in a constant transformation of energy…”

Natural drawing on a piece of paper_2 [Photography & digital collage | 50 x 34cm | 2021] NFS

“…I photograph each stage of the process and then overlap the photo layers to create intriguing new patterns, such as a faded flower, fungus, or cosmic dust. Through these photographic images, I hope to document and explore the coexistence of order and disorder during the decay process.”

— Xieni Zhou

Gazing the ground_1 [Pastels, coloured pencils on paper | 84x50cm | 2023] NFS

Gazing the ground_1 [Pastels, coloured pencils on paper | 84x50cm | 2023] NFS

Gazing the ground_1 [Pastels, coloured pencils on paper | 42x29cm | 2023] NFS

Gazing the ground_1 [Pastels, coloured pencils on paper | 42x29cm | 2023] NFS

“By gazing and retracing these soil ghosts, I hope to test whether they can evoke reflection and inspiration on our ecological identity and the future relationship of the soil-body”

Gazing the ground_1 [Pastels, coloured pencils on paper | 60x40cm | 2023] NFS

How can we perceive a contemporary soil portrait in the suspended moment?

I bowed my head, the soil was covered and squeezed downwards by a shell of artificial stone. The surface beneath my feet cuts the environment in halves, and my perception is enclosed by the dominance of my sight. This disdainful gesture leads to the arrogant illusion that the soil is a dark, dull, and dirty 'substance

Soil certainly has enormous vitality. They grew in the urban cracks, becoming a closed, complete but broken form, and then suffered continuous repairs and reconstruction. This micro landscape is structured as a hybrid that reflects the endless entanglement and transformation of nature and culture.

I try to understand this ever-changing movement through my drawing practice. By using perspective lines to generate an organised rhythm- the lines intersect and form the shape of tiles. Patterns of soil then filled the paper, growing along the scaffolding-like draft lines.

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