This exhibition marks Zhang Xinyi Selina’s (张心怡, 1996) first solo show in Japan. Like a doorway into a dreamland, she hopes that as visitors step into her inner world, they will feel the childlike wonder that shapes her art: a deep curiosity for the world, untainted and pure. At the same time, she invites them to rediscover a part of themselves: an inner spark of innocence and imagination that may have been quietly forgotten in the rhythm of daily life.
XinYi Selina Zhang 张心怡 (b. 1996, Shenzhen, China) is an artist based in London, Hong Kong, and China.
Selina was born in Shenzhen, grew up in Hong Kong, and moved to London to pursue architectural studies. She graduated and holds both B.Arch and M.Arch degrees from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. She worked as an architectural designer at Mikou Design Studio(Paris) and OMA (Hong Kong) and currently works as a full-time artist/ designer between London, Hong Kong, and China.
The artist’s creation draws inspiration from her self-discovery journey and spiritual practices, her work is deeply influenced by the Chinese Daoism philosophy, the work of Sigmund Freud, and Carl Gustav Jung. For Selina, the practice of everyday drawing is a self-disciplinary tool where the intuitive and improvised drawings serve as mirrors for her emotions, she started to draw one drawing per day in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, as a methodology to help her recognize her own emotions, and as an outlet for her feelings of the day. As the work grew and accumulated, the drawings moved from everyday happenings to deeper, more abstract, and spiritual reflections of her inner world. They became the foundation for her colored paintings, sculptures, and installations.
There is a strong sense of duality in her work. The creations derive from personal experiences yet are universal and deeply relatable to a greater audience. She critiques the current system, yet the outcome is always positive and hopeful. Her creations explore a world beyond the physical realities: a world of intangible networks, energies, transient emotions, nature, the origin of life, and fascination with the universe.
Regarding materiality, the artist prefers to experiment and incorporate different media in her creations: ink drawings, colored pencil drawings, watercolor paintings, oil paintings, ceramic sculptures, and 3D-printing sculptures. In her exhibitions and events, the artist creates an interactive environment that serves as a “parallel world” that temporarily transports the audience away from current reality, which is efficiency and outcome-oriented, and focuses on human connections with the surroundings, each other, and self; the exhibitions often incorporate music, technology, and movement.
In 2020, Selina took 2 years out of architecture studies to explore her artistic practice and spirituality. During that time she started to learn and teach yoga and explored other spiritual practices in Koh Phangn, Thailand, at the same Selina time founded the creative practice CUCKOONESS, after 7 months in Thailand she moved to Dali, China, and participated in an artist residency, followed by her first solo exhibition “CUCKOOland.process1.0”. In 2021 she curated & participated in another exhibition “CUCKOOland.process2.0” in Shenzhen, China; following another exhibition “Screw the Gallery” in Guangzhou, China. She has collaborated with POPSIZ, a South Korean-based fashion brand in sustainable clothing design, and BCKJ Architects in mural design for a public square project in Beijing, China. She has also taught design courses, led workshops, and lectured at XiaoYan Institute in Shenzhen, China. After completing her architecture studies in 2023, she started exploring the medium of ceramics, and in 2024 she participated in the “Ceramics in the City” at the Museum of the Home, London. In 2025 she was invited to participate in the group exhibition “World Art Institute exhibition” at O Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. And to welcome the 2025 Chinese New Year, sho hosted a solo exhibition for the countryside regeneration project “Qi Shan Xia Yin”旗山侠隐 at Zhejiang Province, and they will plan a series of collaboration projects in the coming year.
With relentless creativity and an open mind, she continuously explores the boundaries of art, striving to build a world rich in connection and inspiration across diverse cultures and media.
