Artist frames imagination

Updated: 2025-06-17 09:15 ( China Daily )

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Chen Yanran's *WaarWorld: Players Series* artworks, a crossover collection of sculptures and stylized cartoon-like figures inspired by Liu Cixin's sci-fi novel The Supernova Era. The characters in this series are all teenagers around 13 or 14. With its bold visual style and futuristic narrative, the series merges science fiction and street aesthetics. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In 2023, she held her first solo exhibition NOWHERE at Somsoc Gallery in Tokyo. Since then, she has exhibited at the Art Market Budapest, Art Amoy, and ART021 Shanghai, before launching her own studio, Accro Studio — named after the French word for "endless". It's a fitting metaphor for an artist determined to explore without limits.

Neon Dreamland marks the second creative collaboration between Chen and curator Yuan. Their partnership began in 2023, when Yuan interviewed Chen for his cultural platform Art Knock, offering the public a rare, intimate glimpse into her artistic world.

This year, they reunite in the physical space of an exhibition, deepening their creative dialogue.

"When I first interviewed her, she wasn't even 18," recalls 43-year-old Yuan. "She reminded me of that impossibly driven kid you hear about — someone who, even at a young age, already had a clear vision for her life and understood exactly what kind of effort it would take to get there. At 17 or 18, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my future."