Xinyi Leng
Sworn Sister: A Hidden Language—Spiritual Drawings and Female Body
Summary
My Practice this year is focused on two aspects. Firstly, I discovered that I always make drawings and paintings based on spiritual experience. I encounter a period of art creation block this year. However, I found my original fruitful creativity like opening the box of pandora by following my spiritual image. I try to pour out the images that appear in my head onto paper or a digital surface. As a result, I started to investigate historical artists who are spiritually doing paintings or drawings trying to learn from their creative methods. At the beginning of my research project, I started to investigate Nu Shu, which is Nv Shu is a hidden language originating from Yong'an County in southern Hunan, it is a script passed down from mothers to daughters and from elders to the young. It has been transmitted through generations of Han and Yao women in Jiangyong County and its neighboring areas in Hunan Province, making it a unique and mystical cultural phenomenon in human history. I incorporate the typography of Nv Shu as a symbol into my spiritual drawings. The other important part is that a very crucial part of my practice focuses on the female body and female experience. I am inspired by how ecofeminist artists use their bodies as mediums to convey their life experiences. I start to think of the connection between these two distinct areas. The image is a kind of Hidden Language, different from spoken language. It cannot be articulated; it can transcend semiotic systems and unleash inner desires and creativity. Nushu is also a hidden language. At the same time, the female experience and the female body also harbor hidden languages. My research and my creative work revolve around this series of secret languages. I am very grateful for the support of Gemma Blackshaw and Esther Teichmann in developing my research concepts this academic year, and to my MRes classmates for opening up career paths in art for me. I appreciate the support of RCA classmates and all the technicians; without you, I couldn't materialize my creations and research. I also want to thank my mom for her companionship and my friend Lianqi Yang, as well as my undergraduate friends who provided emotional support and inspiration when I felt lost in my creative process.
Spiritual Drawing 2024
Spiritual Drawing 2024 is a group of selected spiritual drawings made in 2024. I explore on spiritual drawing through multiple media including 2D Digital Drawing, 3D Drawings, Photography, and Paintings.

Inside Your Head
Inside Your Head is a group of spiritual drawings in 3D space. Which is originated from the artists' long term inner darkness, anger and bipolar disorder. It interrogates the human condition, conveying a sense of the destructive desires within the human psyche in modern society.

Spiritual Paintings
In art history, spiritual painting is a popular methodology in abstract painting. The pioneers including: Georgiana Houghton, Hilma af Klint and Kandinsky. My research investigate not only on the characteristics of their work, but also on the methodologies. Meanwhile, I investigate on how I make spiritual paintings and drawings.






