A conversation with In&Out Art
IN&OUT ART,31/01/2026
It’s an honor to invite Xin Di to participate in Soft Symbiosis—2026 International Contemporary Women Artists Invitational Exhibition, providing more opportunities to understand her full creative trajectory through this special interview.
My first encounter with Xin Di and her work was at her Hangzhou studio. The space is filled with her collected conch shells and various everyday objects, casually arranged yet naturally forming the room’s rhythm. The entire studio, like the artist herself, exudes deeply personal qualities—gentle and introspective.
Q1 In&Out Art: In your recent work, you’ve chosen natural objects as subjects. Could you talk about how your creative direction has shifted?
Xin Di: The content follows my personal experiences and growth—a natural narrative process.
After graduate school, my work gradually shifted from everyday scenes to everyday objects, including natural ones. The conch shell series began in 2022, when my perception of time started changing. Conch shells were objects I’ve collected since childhood, and this vessel perfectly expressed my state at the time, leading to the Infinite Vessel series. My 2024 solo project Natural Selection echoes this evolution in content.
Q2 In&Out Art: How do you select specific “objects” to paint? Is it highly planned, or more intuitive?
Xin Di: I extract by feeling for the colors and structures I want. When conceiving a painting, I unconsciously embed my current observations and ideas into it. These images stem from personal life and aesthetic experiences.
Q3 In&Out Art: How do you hope viewers engage with your work?
Xin Di: I hope audiences approach the work with an open perspective, temporarily detaching from mundane life to understand the real world from a new angle, thereby better understanding themselves.
Take Architect, for example: the colorful fragments resemble gems spilling from a treasure chest, swept by wind into a spiral trajectory. These “gems” are actually what this shell attaches for survival, while the background spiral traces its true growth path. This image resonates with many subconscious experiences—like recently rewatching Frida Kahlo’s documentary, where one scene shows her post-surgery, resting in bed wearing beautiful clothes, exquisite necklace, earrings, and rings. Having endured countless operations and chronic pain, I felt her life force and defiance of death through these adornments, much like the “gems” in my work—both share similar beauty. Frida was a favorite during undergrad, and these feelings and memories linger in my subconscious, surfacing at the right moment. I hope each viewer finds their own understanding.
出入艺术访谈；2026年1月31日
很荣幸这次可以邀请到歆迪参加“柔软的共生——2026中外当代女性艺术家邀请展”中，得以有更多的机会了解到歆迪的整个创作脉络，为此安排了一场特别的访谈。
第一次见到歆迪和她的作品，是在她位于杭州的工作室。室内摆放着她收集的海螺，以及各式各样来自日常的物件，彼此并不刻意排列，却自然地构成了这个空间的节奏。整个工作室如同她本人一般，极具个人化特质，温和而内敛。
Q1出入艺术：在你近期的创作中，你选择让自然物成为主体，可以聊一聊你的创作方向是如何转变的吗？
歆迪：内容是跟随着自我经历和成长转变的，自然的一个叙述过程。
在研究生毕业之后，我的作品从日常生活中的一些场景慢慢转变到日常物，其中包括一些自然物，以海螺为主体的系列是从2022年开始的，那段时间我对时间的感知开始发生转变。海螺是我从小到大一直收集的日常物，刚好这个载体可以表现我当下的一个状态，于是有了无限的容器系列，24年的个人项目“自然选择”也呼应了创作内容的转变。
Q2出入艺术：你平时是如何选择具体要画的“物”的？是计划性很强，还是更依赖即时的直觉？
歆迪：凭感觉去提取我想要颜色和结构，我在构想一个画面的时候，会无意识中把当下个人的观察和想法放在画面中。这些意象源于个人的生活和审美经验。
Q3你期待观众如何观看你的作品？
我希望观众可以用更开放的视角去感受作品，暂时从庸常的生活中抽离出来，换一个角度去理解现实世界，从而更好地理解自己。
比如《建筑师》这张作品，画面中彩色的碎片就像各种宝石从百宝箱中散落，被一阵风卷起形成了一个螺旋型的轨迹。其实这些“宝石”是这种螺为了生存粘附在自己身上，而背后的螺旋是它真实的生长轨迹。这个画面和我潜意识中的很多经验相呼应，比如我最近重看了弗里达的纪录片，有一个镜头是她做完手术躺在床上修养，穿着漂亮的衣服，带着精美的项链，耳环，戒指。她当时已经经历了很多次手术，身体常年承受病痛。我通过这些饰品感受到的是她的生命力，和死亡的对抗，正如作品中的“宝石”一样，两个画面有着相似的美感。而弗里达是我上本科时期喜欢的艺术家，这些感受和记忆一直存在于我的潜意识里，在合适的时刻，就会浮现出来。我希望每个观众都能有自己的理解。