TIANXING XU
TIANXING XU
Tianxing Xu (1996) was born in Shanghai, China and currently lives and works in New York.
Tianxing is one of ArtConnect’s Artists to Watch '26
Tianxing Xu (b. 1996, Shanghai, China), a visual artist, earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from East China Normal University in 2018. He exchange visited Pratt Institute in 2016. Xu graduated with a MFA degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design and held a solo exhibition there in 2023. His work has been the subject of several exhibitions in the Southeast.
Xu presents a collection of paintings, prints, installations, and artist’s books that serve as building plans for an imagined amusement park. Hidden inside the work is a mixture of over-burnt memories and stories stolen from others. From imitating that ideal in his mind, he reconstructs and simulates a story that never happened by dismantling the elements that comprise the meaning of the park. They are the pages ripped from a diary. The images from his memory appear overexposed and spotty, as if scorching sunlight has bleached their surface, prolonging his search for clarity in recollection.
ArtConnect asked the winning artists to share with us a glimpse into their creative life to get a sense of their personal inspiration and artistic process.
When someone encounters your work for the first time, what do you hope they notice or feel?
The chaos behind order, and the order that constitutes chaos
Roberto Rivadeneira
Curator
“Tianxing’s work sits precisely between chaos and order. There’s a tension in the drawings that holds you in place, as if something is about to shift or continue moving. By blending technical drawing with freer, more instinctive marks, the works create dense visual layers that demand time, attention, and sustained looking.”
Your work often feels atmospheric rather than descriptive. How do you begin a piece, with an image, a feeling, or something else?
Amusement park facilities, old toys, other people's memories
As you’re working, does the meaning feel clear from the start, or does it unfold through the process itself?
Blurred, from start to finish
The Duet’s Carniva
Some of your pieces incorporate diagrams, text, or schematic elements. What role does structure, whether visible or hidden, play in the way you make a work?
It depends on the viewer, some see it as decoration, others as a clue, and others as a hint of divination. I like them all, or rather, these perspectives are the work itself.
Your work seems to move between precision and spontaneity, between controlled structures and freer gestures. How do you navigate that balance while working?
This might be the most challenging part. I hope the work carries a sense of incompleteness, but only in feeling.
There’s often a sense that something in the image is about to shift or continue moving. Is that feeling intentional, and how do you create that kind of tension?
I appreciate those discontinuous, frozen clefts. They are evidence of dreams.
Tianxing Xu
Are there any materials, forms, or processes you’ve been drawn to lately that feel like they’re guiding you into new directions?
I've been trying many things lately, like oil painting and frescoes.
What questions are currently present in your practice, anything you’re still trying to understand or explore?
I aim to reflect more of my reading in my work.
Anything else you would like to add, perhaps something about your process, influences, or what’s next for you?
I've just finished my solo exhibition at a museum. I thought I'd feel anxious about not having any upcoming shows planned, but surprisingly, I didn't.
Sinking, 2025
Heavens of Simulation, 2023