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