Today we’d like to introduce you to Xena Felicia
Hi Xena, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Born in China, Xena received a Bachelor degree from University of Miami and a Master
degree from Central Saint Martins. In 2017, she starts her career as a digital artist, and have
worked with English National Opera. Her digital artworks have been selected into many major
film festivals and won awards around the world. In the 2023, she attended the Swatch Residency
and exhibited her Venus painting at the Swatch Art Journey Event. Following her Swatch Art
Peace Hotel Residency, she began to pursue a more abstract approach, combing I Ching (易经)
theories. Her paintings focus on Changes which aims to alleviate our self-inflicted anxiety and
agony. They are discussing the system of symbols to navigate the complicated world which
provides us with a set of divination rituals to calm our minds. In a technical approach, she mixed
the acrylic with ink and mineral pigments to create a new color blue, which names “X Ocean
Blue”. Having practiced Chinese ink painting for over 20 years, she uses freehand ink painting
style to create an optical illusion. Viewers perceive the space between the color lines the ink, and
feel drown into the painting when they see it for a comparatively long time. This series paintings
are having a solo exhibition at the Intercontinental hotel Miami in May, 2024.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For a female artist, it is never a smooth road. I am born in a city which is totally a men’s world. When I was a kid, I thought I could only do jobs related or supporting my husband. However, when I come to this age, I’ve witness the growth of feminism around the world. I’m very lucky to have work opportunities now as a female asian artist.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work rang from sculptures to paintings. In 2024 I created Baby Yinyang, a 3.9 meters tall inflatable art sculpture. This work exemplifies my interest in bridging the gap between traditional Chinese culture and contemporary art. It is about asian folklores and Taoism “天⼈合⼀”, or the unity of human and
nature which is the central principle in Taoism philosophy. This concept promotes the idea that humans should live in harmony with nature, and this harmony often plays out in folklore mythology and literature, such as stories of babies born from natural elements like lotus flowers or bamboo. It represents that life is a circle and our life is deeply related to the nature. This
inflatable art is going to exhibited at the end of February at the True/False film festival in the United States.
I came to the states when I was 18 and learned abstract artists like Jackson pollock, Vivian Springfold who did abstract painting inspired by Chinese painting. As a Chinese artist, I learned their method and traditional ink painting, now I am working on abstract landscape paintings. It’s like life is a circle. The world is all connected in rotative way.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Miami has always been crazy nice to me. I feel so welcomed. I like the diversity, the culture, the art… everything in Miami. It’s like my second hometown.
Pricing:
- 600-4000 dollars
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.xuanchenfan.com/
- Instagram: https://x.f.queen
