UK & China-based | Working Globally
Contact
zhanglingyi0921@gmail.com | +86 15371011932 | +44 07907357401
Education
2025-2026 | Royal College of Art | MA Contemporary Art Practice | London
2019-2023 | Nanjing University of the Arts | BFA Experimental Animation | Nanjing
Personal Statement
Zhang Lingyi’s practice spans photography, experimental animation, film, installation art, and experimental theatre, exploring the boundaries of human perception, technological mediation, and narrative from a multidimensional perspective. Her work focuses on power structures, the impact of technology on perceptual experience, and the interaction of art in public spaces.
Navigating the complex infrastructures of the post-human era, Lingyi adopts a nomadic stance to locate the 'lines of flight' within rigid systems. She has moved away from the detached dominance of pure critique, finding that relentless analysis often overlooks the fragile, ineffable pulse of existence. Instead, she chooses to inhabit the gaps — exploring a pure intensity of perception that eludes algorithmic capture. Her work often manifests as fragmented or dreamlike imagery, acting as a vessel for a subconscious reality that transcends specific human narratives. She engages with digital textures not to define them, but to capture a pure, untouched intensity that lingers beneath the surface of the algorithm.
This practice marks a shift towards an 'affective ontology' — affirming that the momentary intensities which elude algorithmic capture constitute the fundamental ground of reality. Lingyi wanders through the digital landscape, treating algorithms and synthetic entities with a curiosity that borders on the hauntological — searching for the ghosts in the machine. She does not seek to force a definition of 'kinship' upon technology, but rather to hold space for whatever emerges in that silence.
Solo Exhibition & Press
Photography Series: REINCARNATION (2023)
Mar-May 2025 | Rooted in Cocoon | INYOU Gallery | Nanjing
2025 | Featured in Jinling Evening News and Nanjing Daily
Exhibitions & Selections & Awards
Transmedia Art Project: THE VOID BEYOND FLAWLESSNESS (2024)
2025 | Pingyao International Photography Festival (PIP) | China Youth Photography Promotion Program “Kunpeng Award” | Nomination Award
Oct 31 - Nov 2, 2025 | Art and Design Education: FutureLab | “Ambition! Young Artists Exhibition” Section | West Bund Museum, Shanghai
Experimental Animation: Thousands of You (2023)
2023 | Exhibited on the Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum
2023 | Milan Short Film Festival | Finalist
2023 | Vancouver Chinese Film Festival | Nominee
2023 | Shanghai International Short Film Week | Honorable Mention
2023 | ONED Art/Experimental Film Festival | National Tour & Official Selection
2024 | 14th Beijing International Film Festival AIGC Short Film Section | Finalist
2024 | Manchester Lift-off Film Festival | Official Selection
2024 | Exhibited on the 2th THU&CAA “Lingyuan” Exhibition
2024 | Exhibited on the 16th China International Youth Art Week and the 13th Zhongguancun International Youth Art - “Origin Creation-Realm” Haidian District International AIGC Science and Technology Culture Visual Exhibition
2025 | Exhibited on the Beijing Animation Week “Xinguang · Future Frame” Screening Event
Animation: Singularity (2023)
2023 | Exhibited on the Nanjing University of the Arts Art Museum
2023 | 2th North American International Youth Film Festival | Best Creative Short Film
2023 | Miami 4 Social Change Youth Film Festival | Quarter-Finalist
2023 | ICONA Animation Festival | Official Selection
2023 | Exhibited on the 4th National University Graduates Cloud Exhibition(AME)
2024 | 4th Asia International Youth Film Festival | Finalist
2024 | Chinese Science Fiction Conference | Best Animated Short Film
2025 | 6th China Creativity Festival of College Students | Third Prize
Short Film: Congcong's Paradise (2022)
2022 | Isolation & Suffering Short Videos Festival | Nominee
2022 | Student World Impact Film Festival | Quarterfinalist
2023 | CMS International Children’s Film Festival | Official Selection
2023 | London International Monthly Film Festival | Honorable Mention