yingtong zhou
Fine arts
HKU Utrecht School Of The Arts
Specialisms: Fine Art / Drawing / Art Performance
Location: Utrecht, Netherlands
yingtong zhou
First Name: yingtong
Last Name: zhou
Specialisms: Fine Art / Drawing / Art Performance
Sectors:
My Location: Utrecht, Netherlands
University / College: HKU Utrecht School Of The Arts
Course / Program Title: Fine arts
About
Through performance and large-scale drawings, Yingtong Zhou explores the search for identity. Her charcoal drawings, reflect her complex relationship with her mother. These works do not offer clear answers but instead, reveal a fluid journey of self- discovery. Zhou expresses a tension between the desire to break free and the yearning for safety, reflecting a constant quest for place and belonging.
In her interactive performance, held daily at set times during Exposure, she invites the audience to reflect on human connection and perception: how do we see each other through one another’s eyes? Through intimacy, drawing, and sound, the performance becomes an act of vulnerability, examining power dynamics within relationships. Moving to the Netherlands added another dimension to her exploration of identity, as she confronted the realities of racial prejudice and sexism. This personal experience deepened her focus on how we are perceived and shaped by others.
Through an interactive performance, presented daily at set times, Yingtong Zhou welcomes you into a space where human connection is both questioned and felt. Her practice explores how we navigate closeness and distance, and what we project or recognise in one another. The tension between intimacy and autonomy runs throughout her work, expressed through gesture, drawing and sound. Her complex relationship with her mother informs the emotional undercurrent of Zhou’s work, which has grown into a broader reflection on transference, projection, and how we perceive and are perceived by others. Her move to the Netherlands added new layers to this inquiry, as encounters with racism and sexism sharpened her focus on visibility and judgement. By combining large-scale charcoal drawings with performance, Zhou invites you into an open-ended process of becoming. In this shared space, she traces the subtle dynamics that emerge when we look at one another, and when we are truly seen in return. By putting on the headphones and following the audio guide, the audience is invited to participate and to experience the performance, during which they draw on the artist with charcoal powder underneath the charcoal drawings. Each experience is around 3 minutes; only one person can participate in it every time. Performance: https://youtu.be/-qwNwGcl7Gs Credit: Sound design: Peishan Xu (许沛山), IG @itssparkling Documentation: Sara Roos, IG @sararoos.art Yingtong Zhou (周映彤), IG @zhouyingtong_ Junhao Xiang, (香骏豪), IG @zeonhoxiang
Competitions
