BIO:
Xi Nan was born and raised in Jilin, China. She was selected nationally from China Disabled Per-son Federation to study abroad at RCN United World College in Norway and earned her Interna-tional Baccalaureate degree in 2007. Xi Nan won the United States national second award of juried exhibition of emerging artists with disabilities in 2011. She completed her MFA in ceram-ics at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2015. Xi’s work has exhibited nationally (USA) including juried shows in Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio, Washing-ton, DC, Long Island City, NY and Berkeley & San Francisco CA . Xi Nan was invited for exhibit-ing at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in Pittsburgh, PA 2018. Most recently, Xi has been invited to present her art in the Personal Structures exhibition of the Venice 2022 Art Biennial by the European Cultural Center - Italy. She is currently a full time artist based in New York in the United States.


STATEMENT:
“In my view, we are the architects of our own psychological spaces. We design the spaces sub-consciously, and we are also the residents in our spaces as well as in reality. Sometimes, we get trapped in our own mental space, and look for the exit sign to lead the way out to a haven. In my interdisciplinary work, I invite the viewers to sense and feel the fragility and vulnerability from my own experience, as well as to reflect upon their own inner struggles. At the same time, I see my work as a journey of introspection and healing. As a maker, I create small-scaled sculptural ob-jects with clay and mechanical apparatus —these are metaphorical devices for me, providing form and access to reflect my inner world. I invite viewers to interact with my work through a subtle and multi sensory experiences — breath, vibration from heart beats, pulse and belief. I created this Routine series as a multi-dimensional work by doing performance with, imagery documenting with, as well as living with in my daily life. This Routine series is based on my own mental health healing journey. My intention is to address the significance of mental health for everyone, and bring in more understanding, acceptance, love and support in our society. To al-low ourselves to say "it is okay to be not okay"; to allow ourselves to ask for help; to accept our-selves as who we are; to say goodbye to the past and trust the present”.