Artist Bio:
Mingxian Xiang (b.1997, Guizhou, China) is a London-based illustrator, 2d animator and watercolor artist whose work explores memory and emotion through soft, dreamlike imagery. She graduated from Central Saint Martins (2023) and has exhibited in the Royal Watercolour Society Open 2025, as well as with the New English Art Club Annual 2025 and the Society of Women Artists Annual 2025 at Mall Galleries. She received the RWS New Graduate Award (2025), the iJungle Illustration Award (2024), and was shortlisted for the V&A Illustration Awards as emerging illustrator(2024).
My artistic practice is a continual exploration of memory and emotion. I aspire to be a “romantic inheritor”—one who, through the medium of paint, captures and preserves those fleeting, easily forgotten nuances of feeling. I firmly believe that every memory is a mirror reflecting our inner world, carrying the subtle connections between individuals, society, and nature. While others may record their life through diaries or photography, I choose to collect and accumulate these transient fragments of memory by using brushes, enabling them to traverse time and space and convey a narrative power that is both pure and gentle.
In my paintings, I primarily use traditional watercolour and opaque watercolour, complemented by the use of gouache, pastel and colored pencils, to create a distinctive visual language. Unlike the light and transparent quality often associated with conventional watercolour paintings, I strive to evoke an emotional experience that feels “imbued with the traces of memory.” To achieve this, I deliberately reduce the saturation and contrast of my work and blur the edges, producing an effect that is both dreamlike and tender. This treatment not only enhances the poetic quality of the work but also invites viewers to journey through time, accessing moments that are both distant and dearly cherished.
I selectively extract emotionally charged tones and amplify those unique details that resonate deeply, thereby emphasizing the indelible moments amidst a cacophony of information. Each piece I create is a dialogue with my inner self—a heartfelt recollection of the past and a gentle contemplation of the infinite possibilities the future may hold.
I try to make my art strive to balance a raw, unadorned texture with a refined emotional expression. It celebrates the tender details of everyday life while also exuding a romantic sensibility that transcends time. Through my work, I hope that every audience could discover a resonance deep within their own soul, experiencing a unique and sincere emotional connection.