Writing
I grew up in an era before the internet and social media, when writing was still deeply woven into the fabric of daily life. I kept notebooks, recorded my thoughts, and learned to dwell within an observation through the act of writing. Although the tools have evolved, moving from paper and pen to screens and keyboards, I still carry a notebook in my bag, as writing remains not merely a means of recording, but a way of seeing the world. I continue to write across languages — primarily in English and Mandarin Chinese — taking everyday encounters, travel, visual experiences and cross-cultural observations as my starting points. Some of these pieces are intimate or exploratory; others stem from inquiries that also nourish my research and artistic practice.
My academic trajectory began during my master’s studies with a focus on semiotics and Hallidayan functional grammar. I analysed various news and television media genres across English and Chinese, examining how semantic and syntactic frameworks shape distinct modes of language production. My master’s dissertation extended this analytical lens to the arts, conducting a semantic and syntactic study of Western art theory and art history texts alongside critical commentary to explore how language functions within art and visual contexts. I presented a portion of this theoretical discussion at Durham University in 2019.
Building upon this foundation, my doctoral thesis extended the semiotics of verbal and visual language into a broader cultural and socio-political inquiry. It investigated how contemporary Chinese art—as textual, visual, and cultural signs—is deeply embedded in and constituted through its complex entanglements with socio-political dynamics. It explored how these forces, in turn, shape the production, circulation, and interpretation of visual practices across transnational and global contexts. Parts of this research have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals in 2022.
In conversation with my research, my art practice has become essential to how I think and write about visual culture. Working directly with images, materials, and media provides an embodied understanding of how visual meaning is made, mediated, and remembered. It has also heightened my attention to the subtle ways in which everyday images, material choices, and modes of communication carry personal memory while reflecting the micro-politics of daily life. A selection of my artwork has been featured in public exhibitions in 2025. Moving between research and practice allows me to approach visual culture from complementary positions—as researcher, viewer, and practitioner. It prompts me to consider not only how images communicate, but how materials, media, and lived experience actively participate in that process. This ongoing exchange continues to shape my writing and my broader engagement with visuality, translation, and cross-cultural understanding.
Selected Publication
Peer-reviewed Journal Article
Subversion in Visual and Verbal Paratexts: A Case Study of the Translation of a Contemporary Chinese Artist’s Biography, Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction, 35 (2), 71–99, 2022.
As part of my interdisciplinary doctoral research, this peer-reviewed article brings together textual, visual and contextual analysis to examine how political, social and cultural forces shape the creation, dissemination and reception of contemporary Chinese art.
Conference Papers
Negotiating Meaning: Materials and Media in Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy,University of Bologna, 2026
Translation as a Pedagogical Tool in Language Acquisition: Developing a Theoretical Framework, SOAS University of London, 2025
Translating Visual Storytelling: A Case Study in the Conceptualisation and Application of Chinese Studies, University of York, 2024
Obscuring Subversion in the Translation of the Artist’s Biography, 33rd Conference of the Canadian Association for Translation Studies, 2021
Translation Beyond Translating: The Contribution and Limitations of Jakobson’s Intersemiotic Model, Durham University, 2020
Public Writing
In Search of the Gondola of My Childhood / 寻找童年的“贡多拉”
Summary: Originating in a childhood imagination of the gondola and unfolding in the reality of Venice, this public writing of essay follows Goethe’s journey through the city to examine the interplay between social space, daily life, natural resources, and capital. This text is a summary adapted from an article originally published in Insight World (December 2025), a Chinese-language platform for global affairs and diplomacy. If you are interested in reading the full English text, please feel free to get in touch.
The Civil Servant’s “Departure and Return” and the Lion’s “Journey” / 公务员的“出走与回归”和狮子的“旅行”
Summary: Culture forms the underlying DNA of every domain—shaping the character of cities and influencing how we make sense of the world. Embedded within institutions, customs, and daily life, culture is never static; rather, different cultures continuously engage in processes of exchange, interpretation, rejection, and redefinition. Tracing Goethe’s encounters in Venice alongside contemporary scholarship, this article unfolds a cross-temporal story that connects individuals, cultures, and urban spaces across time. This text is a summary adapted from an article originally published in Insight World (December 2025), a Chinese-language platform for global affairs and diplomacy. If you are interested in reading the full English text, please feel free to get in touch.
The Disciplining of Beauty / 被规训的美
Summary: While beauty is often seen as natural or inherently refined, it remains profoundly shaped by social discipline and cultural regulation. Drawn from a published essay, this reflection explores how visual ideals are governed across different cultural contexts, giving form to distinct aesthetic values and cross-cultural differences. This text is a summary adapted from an article originally published in Insight World (September 2025), a Chinese-language platform for global affairs and diplomacy. If you are interested in reading the full English text, please feel free to get in touch.