INTERVIEW | Xinyue Zhang

10 Questions with Xinyue Zhang

Xinyue Zhang is a multi-media artist. Born in northern China, her practice explores the boundary between figuration and abstraction, capturing the tremors overlooked in daily life, the path of light through dust, the traces of time on surfaces, and the deconstruction of visual inertia. Her artworks achieve balance through contrast, much like life, affirming its existence through decay, seeking that fleeting “in-between.”

XinYue Zhang holds a BA in painting from the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts . She was a recipient of The Light From 2025 International Designer Club Awards - Winner Art Competition hosted by the International Visual Communication Design Association. Working across digital painting, printmaking, and other media, she is also committed to the Texture of paper-based painting.

xinyuezhang.art | @urspecialmiyah

Xinyue Zhang - Portrait

ARTIST STATEMENT

Emotional expression and material technique complement each other in artistic creation. How to express emotions through an appropriate medium and present images with a personally unique artistic language remains her eternal creative pursuit. Xinyue Zhang’s artworks employ rice paper, watercolour, and plaster as primary materials,supplemented by ink and colored pencils. It explores the application of mixed media in artistic expression, contemplating the equilibrium achieved through the interplay of light and shadow-much like life affirming its existence amidst decay, sprouting from fissures, and gauging the depth of stillness.

In the Cage, installation shot, 2025 © Xinyue Zhang

---

INTERVIEW

First, could you tell us a little about your background and what first inspired you to become an artist?

Growing up in northern China,the rapid transformation of my surroundings,driven by my country’s fast-paced development,ignited my innate curiosity and inspired me to become an artist who could capture everything I observed. To pursue this dream, I chose Fine Arts as my undergraduate major. During my four years studying painting at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts,my artistic practice was built on an interdisciplinary learning path. I majored in printmaking and minored in painting. Among these,the "Illustration" course profoundly shaped my creative approach,guiding me to focus on how to visually express my ideas as an artist. In my work,I eventually explored this theme through mixed-media painting.

You work across painting, printmaking, digital media, and paper-based techniques. How do you decide which medium best suits a particular idea?

Usually, I start with small sketches, trying out different media in several versions. After comparing them, I choose the one that best fits the concept and delivers the most ideal effect to carry through to the final artwork.  

In the cage, comprehensive material, 90x50x5 cm, 2025 © Xinyue Zhang

Your work often moves between figuration and abstraction. What draws you to this space between the recognisable and the unknown?

This mainly stems from my aesthetic orientation. To my mind, pure realism feels too constrained and lacks a contemporary edge, while pure abstraction comes across as overly detached. I tend to strike a balance between figuration and abstraction, preserving some recognizable cues while leaving room for imagination. This ambiguity at the boundaries, in turn, makes the work more open-ended and more charged with tension.  

Many of your works focus on subtle details such as light, texture, and the traces of time. What inspires you to pay attention to these often-overlooked moments?

This goes back to an experience I had during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was isolated alone, and suddenly the whole world became extremely quiet: no company, and time itself seemed to stretch out. In those solitary afternoons, I started noticing all kinds of details I would normally never pay attention to, how light moves, marks on the walls, the texture of objects. Gradually, I began reflecting on the relationship between people and time, and that awareness naturally found its way into my work.  

Rice paper, watercolour, plaster, ink, and colored pencils all play an important role in your practice. What possibilities do these materials offer that others cannot?

In my creative process, I use plaster as the base material. Once it dries, it forms a thick and distinctive texture. While it's still wet, I layer rice paper onto it. Rice paper and ink are traditional Chinese painting materials; what makes them interesting is that the way the ink spreads and bleeds is completely uncontrollable, and I really enjoy that element of chance. On top of the ink wash, I add watercolor, layering and overlapping the colors repeatedly so they blend naturally. Finally, I use colored pencils for the fine details to bring the piece together. Throughout this process, every material has its own irreplaceable role; for instance, oil paints just can't achieve that same uncontrollable ink-wash effect.  

Handmade Book, wood, copper engraving, pencil, 124x64x5 cm © Xinyue Zhang

The Flight, lithograph, 100x80 cm, 2024 © Xinyue Zhang

The Mountain’s Heart, lithograph, 90x50x5 cm, 2024 © Xinyue Zhang

Your artist statement describes emotion and material as working together. How does your creative process transform personal feelings into visual form?

I don't think emotion is something you figure out first and then express; it naturally emerges through the interaction with materials. What materials I choose, how I layer them, how I handle the textures, all of that is connected to my state of mind at the moment. The materials keep giving me surprises and feedback along the way, and those unexpected responses, in turn, guide my emotions. The final image is the result of this two-way interaction.  

Themes of balance, contrast, growth, and decay appear throughout your work. Why are these ideas important to you, and how have they evolved over time?

When the world goes quiet, you start to see light slowly moving across the wall, ink spreading on paper all by itself, things drying, cracking, aging, that's decay, but at the same time, it's also another kind of beauty growing. Balance and contrast, on the other hand, are questions I deal with every day in my work: how to blend ink and watercolor together, how to make the roughness of plaster coexist with the delicacy of rice paper. Over the years, these things have kept changing, but the core has always stayed the same; I'm just fascinated by how things transform over time.  

What do you hope viewers experience or reflect on when they encounter your work?

I hope viewers can slow down and take a second look. The details and chance effects in my work take time to discover; I don't want them to "get it" at a glance and then walk away. Everyone can take away whatever they see; I don't offer a definitive answer. The blank spaces and ambiguity are precisely there to leave room for the viewer's own interpretation.  

The Violet Roar, Water color, Acrylic, Veil, 60x150x10 cm,2025-2026 © Xinyue Zhang

Receiving recognition such as the 2025 International Designer Club Awards is an important milestone. Has this experience influenced your confidence or artistic direction in any way?

Winning the award was certainly a joy, and I feel very fortunate. But I see it more as a signpost, telling me that "the path I'm on is visible to others", rather than a turning point that would make me switch directions. I'd rather take it as a summary of the past than a definition of the future.  

Lastly, looking ahead, are there any new materials, ideas, or projects you are particularly excited to explore?

I want to try working with video as a new medium, while also integrating the concept of digital painting. I'd like to create a dialogue within the moving image between the handmade quality of traditional materials and the editability and layering of digital painting, in search of a more contemporary expression that feels more relevant to the present moment. I believe video can bring my artistic language closer to the contemporary context and better respond to the viewing habits of modern audiences. I hope to extend my previous focus on material texture and traces of time into the realm of moving images, exploring new possibilities between stillness and motion.  

---

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a curated promotional platform that offers artists the opportunity to articulate their vision and engage with our diverse international readership through insightful, published dialogues. Conducted by Mohamed Benhadj, founder and curator of Al-Tiba9, these interviews spotlight the artists’ creative journeys and introduce their work to the global contemporary art scene.

Through our extensive network of museums, galleries, art professionals, collectors, and art enthusiasts worldwide, Al-Tiba9 Interviews provides a meaningful stage for artists to expand their reach and strengthen their presence in the international art discourse.

---