The Bloom of Boundaries II, 49cm*59cm, 2025
This work continues the exploration begun in The Bloom of Boundaries I, where a fictional organism symbolizes emotional and psychological states. Here, the organism is placed within a rigid metal frame that functions as a conceptual boundary, representing systems of order and expectation. Rather than simply containing the form, the frame creates tension as the organism presses against it and extends outward through threads and fragments. Inspired by plant observation and built through layered materials, the work portrays a life form that continues to grow while negotiating structural limits.
Materials: coffee grounds, acrylic, paste, wool, thread, metal frame.
STUDIOHOMEAWARENESS - exhibition' Soft Architecture' , Milan, 2025
Isolart Gallery - exhibition' GENERATIVE METAMORPHOSIS' , Florence, 2026
What the body records, 68*40*53cm, 2025
This work originates from Ziyi’s observation of the body in everyday life, such as the cracked hands of construction workers and visible marks of illness on family members’ skin. These encounters reveal the body as a surface that absorbs and records environmental pressure. In the work, skin-like pathological forms are attached to stones like specimens. Soft textile structures cling to rigid geological material, creating tension between vulnerability and endurance. The forms resemble wounds or protective layers, suggesting how labour and environmental stress gradually inscribe themselves onto the body. The stone becomes a secondary body, echoing pressure and erosion. Illness is reframed as a material trace of labour, environment, and time.
Materials: Wool felt, beads, paper pulp, yarn, textile fabric, cotton thread
"Yan's work has the admirable quality of danger. It's not quite safe. Not quite palatable, though it presents itself in agreeable tones."
— Trebuchet Magazine
Enfolding, 30cm*43cm, 2026
