Xiaoxiao Chen
- Jan 26
- 4 min read
Xiaoxiao Chen is an artist and illustrator based in London, working with painting, mixed media, and digital tools. She has spent time living and working in China, Dubai, and the UK, and this shows in the way she approaches colour, rhythm, and composition. Her starting points are often small, everyday impressions, a moment in nature, a face, a mood that stays with her. She develops her images through drawing and layering until the composition feels complete.
Q: You’ve worked between China, London, and Dubai. How has that move changed the way you work?
A: Working across China, London, and Dubai has significantly shaped how I approach my work. Exposure to diverse cultural contexts has given me a more open and inclusive understanding of visual language, aesthetics, and storytelling. These cross-cultural experiences have made me more flexible and intentional in my creative process, and have strengthened my global mindset.
Q: Chaos and harmony both appear in your art. How do these two come into a work for you?
A: They come from life itself and from my ongoing reflections on it. I’m drawn to the tension between disorder and balance that exists in everyday experiences, emotions, and environments. In my work, chaos and harmony are not opposites, but states that coexist and interact, allowing me to reflect and communicate what I want to express on a deeper level.
Q: When you start a new piece, what usually comes first for you?
A: Small inspirations from everyday life usually come first for me. They can arise from nature, people, or even fleeting thoughts and moments that catch my attention. These sparks serve as triggers, guiding me into the thought process and exploration of the piece.
I pay close attention to the feelings, emotions, and atmosphere that these inspirations evoke, observing how they resonate with my own experiences and sensibilities. I consider how to translate these intangible sensations into visual language—through color, composition, texture, and form—so that the work can communicate not just an idea but a lived emotional experience. For me, this initial stage is highly intuitive, almost like following a thread of curiosity, yet it is also a critical moment for establishing the overall direction, tone, and conceptual framework of the piece.
Q: In “Awakened Weaves”, there’s both movement and stillness. What were you paying attention to most while making it?
A: In “Awakened Weaves”, I aimed to explore themes of identity, culture, and belonging. These concepts carry different layers of color and emotional meaning, evoking both chaos and calm. While creating the piece, I focused on how to convey this balance through visual language, allowing movement and stillness, order and freedom to coexist. I also wanted the work to engage in a dialogue with the viewer, becoming a meditative space where rhythm, color, and emotion flow together, guiding the viewer into a subtle moment of awakening and experiencing an inner stillness within life’s continuous motion.
Additionally, during the creative process, I paid close attention to the arrangement and breathing of visual elements, considering how lines, colors, and layers interact to create a sense of both flow and tranquility. This interplay is intended to evoke personal resonance and reflection in the viewer, inviting them to engage emotionally and contemplatively with the work.
Q: What did you focus on while making “Whispers”?
A: While making “Whispers”, I combined elements such as bamboo, angel wings, and human faces to explore the subtle interplay between fragility and inner strength. Bamboo represents resilience and growth, wings convey freedom and transcendence, and human faces introduce emotion, presence, and individuality. During the creative process, I paid careful attention to how these elements could interact visually to create a sense of lightness, flow, and rhythm, achieving a balance between movement and stillness. I also considered how texture and layering could enhance the immersive quality of the work, allowing each element to breathe while contributing to the whole. My intention was for viewers to not only see the composition but to feel its energy, to experience the tension and harmony that exists in both life and nature.
I hoped the piece would prompt reflection on the delicate balance between strength and vulnerability, the interconnectedness of all living beings, and the invisible forces that guide and sustain them. Ultimately, I wanted “Whispers” to function as an immersive, contemplative, and resonant experience for viewers.
Q: Looking at what you’re creating now, what feels different for you compared to a few years ago?
A: Compared to a few years ago, I now place greater emphasis on the overall integrity of the composition. Rather than focusing solely on individual elements or isolated details, I pay closer attention to the overall structure, layering, and visual rhythm of my work, ensuring that each element harmonizes with the whole to create a cohesive and impactful visual expression. I have also become more conscious of how the overall composition guides the viewer’s experience, allowing the work to resonate both visually and emotionally.
