![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static-edge.kiaf.org\/web\/2025\/07\/29155753\/HIGHLIGHTS-%EC%9E%91%EA%B0%80-%ED%94%84%EB%A1%9C%ED%95%84_Yu-Xiao.jpg\")
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YU Xiao<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n YU Xiao cuts, folds, and reassembles the canvas. Through this radical gesture, Yu exposes the hidden structure of painting and explores the physical trauma and sensory memory of women’s experiences, long marginalised by society. For Yu, a painting is not a static image but a \u2018living body\u2019 that can be wounded, mourned, and ultimately reclaiming freedom. Her work poses bold, incisive questions that challenge the conventions of traditional painting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Born in Hangzhou, China, YU Xiaos working and living in London. She received an MFA from Central Saint Martins and is a practice-led PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. Yu\u2019s work has been exhibited internationally, including in Hong Kong, London, and Los Angeles, earning growing global recognition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yu describes her method as a \u2018reverse technique of incision.\u2019 By deliberately slicing the canvas, she exposes the wooden stretcher bars\u2014typically hidden from view\u2014and reveals stains on the reverse side of the fabric. \u201cThe stretcher,\u201d she notes, \u201cwhich has always served as the painting\u2019s humble servant, now steps into the light to take center stage.\u201d Crumpled balls of discarded masking tape and red dots stamped on the surface form a symbolic lexicon unique to her work\u2014signs of both wounding and vitality.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Through this process, The artist translates emotions such as grief and shame into tangible material device. She describes the \u2018Dot Conspiracy\u2019 as a whimsical yet subversive concept that fuels her practice, imagining the red \u2018sold\u2019 stickers commonly seen in galleries as defiant \u2018secret agents\u2019 operating beneath the surface of the art world. Even as she engages with heavy and painful themes, Yu finds room for playfulness and resistance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At this year\u2019s Kiaf, YU Xiao presents her ongoing series \u2018Da Vinci\u2019s Mirror\u2019, which investigates the thresholds between perception and perspective, reality and abstraction. She hopes that viewers will have a visceral encounter with her work. \u201cWhen standing in front of a slashed canvas,\u201d Yu says, \u201cI want viewers to feel their skin prickle.\u201d Her works are not merely to be seen but to be sensed, offering a profound meeting of body and image.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Da Vinci\u2019s Mirror No.60.1001, Acrylic on Canvas, stained stretcher, previously applied, masking tape, 60x80cm, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54349","highlight","type-highlight","status-publish","hentry","category-107"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"acf":{"\bshow_only_admin":false,"thumbnail":54350,"gallery":"Lucie Chang Fine Arts","hide_han":false,"hide_eng":false,"artworks":[{"artwork_img":54353,"artwork_desc":"When Slide Up and Down Evokes the Blink No.110.09 Acrylic and oil paint on canvas and linen, Stained stretcher, previously applied masking tape, Marker pen, 120x90cm, 2024"},{"artwork_img":54352,"artwork_desc":"Gaming of Trio-Monads #23.11, Acrylic on Canvas, 25x25cm, 2023"}],"category":[107]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/highlight\/54349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/highlight"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/highlight"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"category","href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kiaf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static-edge.kiaf.org\/web\/2025\/07\/29155820\/Da-Vincis-Mirror-No.60.1001-Acrylic-on-Canvas-stained-stretcher-previously-applied-masking-tape-60x80cm-2025.jpg\")
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