10 Questions with Qixin Chen

Qixin Chen was born in 2001 and raised in Shenzhen, Guangdong. She studied watercolor and drawing until she dropped out in her freshman year of high school. In 2020, she received a SAIC Creative Honors Scholarship to attend the School of Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently a third-year student in the BFA Studio Art program at SAIC, where she focuses on installation, mixed media, and performance. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at SAIC Galleries and in online spaces.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Through mixed media and installation, Qixin Chen focuses on the existential anxiety arising from transitional society and culture, which threaten the fundamental values and state of being of individuals in a pervasive and widespread manner. She believes that this painful emotional experience, along with the restrictions on freedom imposed by the objective world, creates a collective emptiness, isolation, and fear. To break these conditions, she invites the viewer to rethink the possibility of their own existence by reconstructing the objective world in her works. These works emphasize the interaction between matters under the emotional engagement of an individual or community. While provoking a sense of uncertainty about the objective world, the works invite the viewer to perceive and integrate the conflicts between the objective and the subjective.

Moon, paper, PVA glue, led Lights, 24x24x24 in, 2022 © Qixin Chen

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell us about your background. When did you start getting involved with visual arts, and how?

I started studying painting in 2017 in order to apply to art high schools.

You moved to Chicago to complete your training. How did it help you develop into the artist you are today?

The school curriculum teaches me how to do multidisciplinary projects and experiment with new forms and materials. They are very open to experimentation and interdisciplinarity.

Room 13, Mixed Medium, 138x110x110 in, 2019 © Qixin Chen

How would you define yourself as an artist, and what is your personal aim?

I would define myself as a developing artist because some of my ideas have not been fully explored. As a student, I'm mostly doing stuff that's required by the class, so my personal goal at this stage is to delve more into the forms and themes that interest me.

As a multidisciplinary artist, what is your creative process like? Where do you draw inspiration from, and how do you translate it into your work?

My projects start with a specific idea, and then I find a form that matches it to express it. Inspiration, most of the time, comes from things happening around me, such as my own experience or the common experience of people I know. I usually start with emotion as the main entry point and then describe the emotional tone of these experiences for individuals or groups and how these experiences are reconstructed under the influence of subjective emotions.

In your work, you reflect on society and how it is riddled with anxiety. What do you think is the role of art in addressing these themes?

In my opinion, art is a very good tool for people to empathize with each other. For some people who suffer from anxiety, they feel alone and helpless. Through such an artistic expression, it makes the audience realize, to a certain extent, that what they are experiencing is collective so as to relieve some of their emotions.

How did you come up with this idea, and how do you choose the mediums to use?

This theme should have been influenced by the environment in which I grew up. A society in transition has brought anxiety to a large number of people. I choose mediums based on how well their characteristics fit my ideas. Some ideas need to highlight their material; others may be about time duration.

The End, The Start, acrylic on canvas, 165x64 in, 2020 © Qixin Chen

What is the most challenging part of your projects?

It may be from many restrictions in the school. Sometimes the time given is too short, resulting in incomplete development of the work.

What do you hope that the public takes away from your work?

It is hard for me to imagine what different audiences will perceive from the works. I have no expectations as to whether they can get a specific thing from my work.

Camellia, paper, holographic film, acrylic, 63x18 in, 2021 © Qixin Chen

As a multidisciplinary artist, is there any other medium or technique you would like to explore or implement in your work?

I want to try some techniques for scent mixing and preservation.

And lastly, what are you working on right now, and what are your plans for the future?

I am currently making a series of works about stress eating using sugar as the painting material. In the future, I want to get in touch with some new media more and push the meaning of my works deeper.

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