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PROFILE
Xiyan Chen is a visual artist who creates virtual worlds that viewers enter rather than observe. Working across illustration, creative coding and interactive environments, she builds digital spaces shaped by gesture, proximity and shared presence. Her practice centres on how virtual encounters can open new forms of connection between strangers.

 

Her visual language draws from Chinese folklore, impressionist light and the emotional immediacy of photography. These influences inform the texture, atmosphere and spatial rhythm of her work, guiding viewers through scenes that feel both dreamlike and rooted in lived experience.

 

Xiyan treats the digital realm as a tactile field, exploring how virtual worlds can hold emotion and expand the possibilities of human interaction. Through interactive sculpture and immersive worldbuilding, she imagines near-future landscapes that invite empathy, curiosity and a deeper sense of relational presence.

EDUCATION

2020–2022

MArch, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London

 

2016–2020

BFA, School of Design, East China Normal University  

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

2025

Finalist, Arte Laguna Prize – 20th Edition 2025 – MetaTouch

 

2023

Finalist, London International Creative Competition (CREATE – ART) – MetaTouch

Shortlisted, Graduate 360° Design Award – MetaTouch

 

2020

Winner, Think Youth Shanghai Digital Creation Competition – Room 8

PUBLICATIONS & PRESS

2025 - Aftermath and MetaTouch was reviewed and featured by Visual Art Journal

2025 - Waterland was featured by AI-Tiba9 Contemporary Art Magazine Issue 18

2025 - Rebuild the Unknown, featured in V&A Magazine Spring Issue 66

2024 - Rebuild the Unknown, featured in Tate ETC. Winter Issue 64

2024 - Rebuild the Unknown, featured in Frieze Magazine, November Issue No.247

2024 - MetaTouch, reviewed and featured in Neural Magazine

2024 - MetaTouch, reviewed and featured in Our Culture Magazine

2023 - MetaTouch, featured in Creative Applications Network

Do not hesitate to contact me to discuss a possible project or learn more about my work.
Contact
cxytracy0710@gmail.com
+44 (0)7421732247

London, UK

Shanghai, China
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