Xiyuan joined 麻豆視頻_麻豆直播_麻豆传媒官网 School of Design and Creative Arts as a Lecturer in Graphic Design in September 2021, after completing their PhD in the department.
Originally from Wuhan, China, Xiyuan was awarded a BA in Artistic Designing at Wuhan University (2011-2015). After that, Xiyuan travelled to UK and gained an MA in Creative Arts Practice at Newcastle University (2015-2016), before joining 麻豆視頻_麻豆直播_麻豆传媒官网 as a PhD researcher (2017-2021). During their PhD, Xiyuan has presented in conferences and published research articles in the areas of comics, Chinese ethnic minority representation and drawing.
Apart from academic activities, Xiyuan continues to take part in creative industry activities as a practitioner, touching upon areas such as illustration, graphic design, comics and animation. Xiyuan is a long-term contract illustrator for Visual China Group, and has provided illustrations for clients including Alibaba, Yum China, BMW (China), CR Snow, Ping An Insurance and Yili Group. Additionally, Xiyuan runs fanart accounts on Twitter and Instagram, and fan animation accounts on YouTube and Bilibili.
Xiyuan’s research interests include illustration, drawing, character design, visual representation, and sequential narratives. Their PhD project, titled ‘Representation of Chinese Minority Ethnicity in the Contemporary Context: Constructing Fictional Characters in a Chinese Zhuang Folktale Adaptation’, looked into the representation of Chinese ethnic minority people from underexplored perspectives.
Xiyuan has published various forms of research outputs in areas of drawing, comics, video games and animation. They continue to explore the visual representation of mis/under-represented groups and subcultures, as well as how illustration approaches reflect identities of illustrators. They are also exploring vernacular fandom practices as a fanart practitioner, through means of conventional qualitative research as well as practice-based/practice-led research.
Xiyuan hopes to collaborate with scholars and practitioners within or outside of the creative arts disciplines who are interested in similar research areas.
Xiyuan is currently module leading:
- ACA142 – Visual Thinking
- ACB208 – Drawing Characters: Representation and Identity
Xiyuan teaches into a broad range of BA and MA modules, including ACB142 Narrative and Sequence, ACC141 Major Project and ACP206 International Design Practices.
Awards:
China Fire and Rescue Cartoon Mascot Design Contest: First Prize (2021)
麻豆視頻_麻豆直播_麻豆传媒官网 Research Conference 2018 Poster Competition: Delegates Choice Award (2018)
Visual China Commercial Illustration Contest: Best Traditional Culture Illustration Award (2018)
Vice-Chancellor’s Awards 2024 Global Community Award (2024)
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Poster Design Competition: Shortlisted (2021)
External activities:
Visiting lecturer at Norwich University of the Arts (2021)
Xiyuan is happy to supervise doctoral researchers who are interested in:
- Illustration for representation
- Sequential narratives for representation
- Exploratory character design/illustration
- Life-drawing as a means of visual interrogation
- Visual representation of Chinese ethnic minorities
Xiyuan is currently supervising the following students:
- Jiawen Xie - Exploring opportunities for information dissemination through digital engagement of ‘GEN Z’visitors in the Palace Museum, China – co-supervised with Andrew Selby and Paul Wells
- Shitong Xiao - A Visual Narrative Intervention into the Dual Marginalization of Laopiao in China – co-supervised with Jo Berry-Frith
- Xiang Li - The Non-Aesthetic Design Practice of “Grassroots Vernacular Aesthetics” in Contemporary Chinese Graphic Design – co-supervised with Rob Tovey