Yin Xiuzhen (1963) is a Chinese sculpture and installation artist. She incorporates used textiles and keepsakes from her childhood in Beijing to show the connection between memory and cultural identity. She has also employed pots and pans, wooden chests, suitcases and cement in her work. She studied oil painting in the Fine Arts Department of Capital Normal University, then called Beijing Normal Academy, in Beijing from 1985 to 1989. After graduation, Yin taught at the high school attached to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, until her exhibition schedule became too demanding. Her work has been described by Phyllis Teo as “possessing human warmth, intimacy, and a sense of nostalgia which propels introspection of one's self—traditions, emotions, and beliefs. Thus, creating of a sense of community and belonging within the audience Yin's art has been greatly influenced by her impoverished upbringing during the time of the Cultural Revolution, a socio-political movement from 1966 to 1976. In an interview, she states, “the CR (Cultural Revolution) created more “hardships” and “bitterness” and “regret” for the generations before us, it left me—young and naïve—with memories of “ideals,” “magnificence,” “collectivity”...(creating) contradictions and conflicts between isolation and openness, dictatorship and democracy became a new motivation, and as rapid changes cultivated in me an attitude of calm and quiet .” As a child in the Cultural Revolution, Yin Xiuzhen found a creative outlet in the act of sewing, which has become a monumental component in her artistic practices.
Yin has stated the ‘85 Art New Wave Movement going on in China at the time along with a 1985 Robert Rauschenberg exhibition at the National Art Museum as turning her towards more contemporary styles and influencing her use of different mediums for her art. Xiuzhen's utilization of the various mediums such as fabric, found objects, and concrete added to the tactile interest and depth to her politically and socially charged works. It consolidated her position as a female master in experimental, avant-garde art which, at the time, was dominated by male artists like Gu Wenda, Xu Bing, and Ai Wei Wei. Yin spoke to Phaidon about how the Robert Rauschenberg exhibition inspired her, saying “I realized that the language of art should no longer be restricted to mediums and tools of painting and sculpture, which were what we had studied. Rather, it should be free and open, and should be used to express free and open messages.” She incorporates used textiles and keepsakes from her childhood in Beijing to show the connection between memory and cultural identity.
She is well known for Portable City, a series of sculptures created from clothing collected in different cities shaped into building-like forms and arranged inside suitcases. Yin had made over 40 Portable City suitcases for various cities around the world to express her perceptions about the many places she's visited in this era of globalization. In an interview with Phaidon, Yin discusses her inspiration for the Portable City series and states, “I place emphasis on difference, but no matter how I emphasize it, it's always covered over by sameness”. Suitcases and clothing are a popular medium for Yin, and she uses them in other works such as Fashion Terrorism (2004–05) to address global issues such as trust and security. In Fashion Terrorism, Yin used clothing to construct weapons and other objects forbidden on a plane, then packed them up in a suitcase.
In addition, Yin's work consistently demonstrates a concern for the relationship between the individual and the artist, with a particular interest in her home city of Beijing.
Yin has participated in group exhibitions such as Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World at the Guggenheim Museum (2017), and China 8, an exhibition of Chinese contemporary art in eight cities and nine museums in the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany (2015), the 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2013), the 4th Yokohama Triennale (2011), the 7th Shanghai Biennale (2008), the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), the 14th Biennale of Sydney (2004) and the 26th São Paulo Art Biennial (2004).
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| MS. Yin Xiuzhen |
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| 1997 Transformation, 1997 Installation view |
1998 Ten- Shoes, 1998 
Collective Subconscious, 2007 
Collective Subconscious, 2007 
Collective Subconscious, 2007 
Collective Subconscious, 2007 
Flying Machine, 2008 Shanghai Biennale 
Thought, 2009 
Portable City: Hangzhou, 2011 
Portable City: Madrid, 2012 
Black Hole, 2013 
Traffic Barrier Series, 2013 
Puzzle No. 1, 2015-22 
Slow Release, 2016 Garage Museum of Contemporary Art 
Wall Instrument No. 4, 2016 
Trojan, 2016-17 
Trojan, 2016-17 
Blending Instrument – Ruler No. 3, 2017 
Planting, 2017 
Action No. 3, 2019 
The Arsenale at the Venice Biennale, 2019 Installation view ,%202020.jpg "Artist of the Day, May 22, 2024: Yin Xiuzhen, a Chinese sculptor and installation artist (#2034) (24)")
Wheel-cage (Rendering), 2020 
Wheel-cage, 2020 
Dongzhi Festival, 2020–21 
Along the Way, 2021 
Everywhere, 2022 installation view 
Nowhere to Land 
Shoes with butter 
Weapon, Every day objects
