MEICHIA (MAGGIE) CHIU

DISCIPLINE: CONTEMPORARY CURATION

CAREER AREA OF INTEREST: Curation, Artist development and Public Programming . I aspire to contribute to a healthier arts ecosystem that moves beyond one-off exhibitions to foster lasting connections between artists, curators, and audiences. I am particularly interested in developing artist residencies, graduate support programmes, and participatory projects that prioritise collaboration, care, and dialogue. My goal is to help create spaces where artistic practices can thrive, audiences feel engaged and included, and curatorial work functions as a bridge that strengthens relationships within the cultural field. 

BIO: I am a postgraduate student in Contemporary Curating at the University of Southampton (2024–2025), driven by a passion for creating meaningful connections between artists, artworks, and audiences.

My final MA project, Childhood (2025), was co-curated with a WSA Fine Art PhD researcher Qixuan Wu and developed through an open call that brought together diverse perspectives. The project also included an A/B test that compared two collaboration models: working closely with a lead artist to co-curate the exhibition and recruiting the other 14 artists through an open call process.

This experiment allowed me to critically examine how different curatorial approaches influence artistic collaboration, exhibition outcomes, and the curator’s role in shaping dialogue between artists and audiences. 

In summer 2025, I undertook a curatorial internship with Chapel Arts Studios in Andover, where I coordinated the open call for the annual exhibition Wish You Were Here. The open call attracted over 120 works from 60 artists, and I was part of the selection panel that curated 47 works for display. I also supported the exhibition’s planning, installation, and public events, while developing digital content such as an online gallery and virtual tour to expand the exhibition’s reach. 

IMAGES/VIDEOS / PORTFOLIOS:

https://www.chapelartsstudios.co.uk/open-open-2025-onlinetour  

CONTACT DETAILS and LINKS:

https://www.instagram.com/moi_meichia 

ALL DOWNLOADS (ORIGINAL HIGH QUALITY PDFs):

YEWEN ZHANG

DISCIPLINE: FINE ART

CAREER AREA OF INTEREST: Curarion or anything Art related.

BIO: My painting skills were being taught by my Chinese painter parents. Moreover, I graduated from a fine art high school, got a design bachelor from Shenyang University of Technology and just finished an academic year in MA Contemporary Curating programme at University of Southampton (WSA campus). The most fortunate and honorable thing during my education experience would be making some excellent friends in art-based areas. I wouldn’t like to call them my resources, but they really help and support me a lot, not only personal stuff but also things like my final project exhibition including providing artworks and very professional graphic design. My personal interests are mainly around curatorial things, which offer a platform for me to do a comprehensive job integrating my own ideas and ability with friends and artists who have different talents. This enthusiasm actually was enhanced when I was a curator assistant in my parents’ friends’ gallery. Furthermore, curating for me is more than making exhibitions but also an opportunity to work in the background linking artists and artworks to the audiences through organisations. During my bachelor’s degree, I also did some optional modules including simple but systematical training of electrician, lathe operator, even how to operate numerical control machine tools, which makes me can deal with more physical works like exhibition installation. It is noticeable that as a person of millennials, I have been feeling the development of technology. As a result, my personal curatorial interests are mainly topics or practices about technology, such as applying more new technologies in the exhibition for better experience and inclusive curation. I think curating work for me is the best way to release my passion and the desire to express my understanding of art. 

So far, there is fortunately a chance to curate an exhibition named Curated by Others with my team during my master’s degree. This is my first time doing an exhibition in a team from finding a topic to installing the exhibition space, but it is noticeable that professors, teaching staff and gallery staff also offered the team indispensable help and suggestions. The practical process includes making an open call for finding artists and works of art, selection of works, commissioning a designer, teamwork, installation according to the planned curatorial narratives and negotiating with other curatorial teams. 

IMAGES/VIDEOS / PORTFOLIOS:

See below - portfolio link button

CONTACT DETAILS and LINKS:

@ZHANGYIWEN2325

ALL DOWNLOADS (ORIGINAL HIGH QUALITY PDFs):

YUXIN TENG

DISCIPLINE: FINE ART

CAREER AREA OF INTEREST: Yuxin Teng has developed a practice that merges painting, stitching, sculpture, and installation, allowing materials to guide the work rather than imposing fixed designs

BIO: Yuxin Teng is a Chinese artist currently completing her MA Fine Art at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton. With a background in traditional painting form Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, she has developed a practice that merges painting, stitching, sculpture, and installation, allowing materials to guide the work rather than imposing fixed designs.

Her current practice is rooted in a personal and family experience, her father’s congenital spinal condition. This encounter with a fragile, hereditary structure became a starting point for imagining how her own body might carry hidden risks and unspoken memories. From there she began to build a visual language of bones, seams, scars, and thorns-not to heal or conceal, but to keep the wound breathing. Teng’s works often take shape through fragile materials such as mulberry paper, thread, and branches. These materials embody both tenderness and vulnerability, whispering a kind of memory that lies beyond language. Her practice emphasizes non-linear growth, hesitation, and incompleteness. Cracks, sutures, and provisional frames are not mistakes but metaphors for an unfinished subjectivity.

Through this process, Teng aims to create spaces where viewers can approach the work intimately, sensing the coexistence of trauma and care, fragility and resilience. Her aspiration is to continue this research at doctoral level, expanding her exploration of “bones as emotional structures” into broader conversations around feminist theory, epigenetics, and material culture.

IMAGES/VIDEOS / PORTFOLIOS:

LINKS TO BE ADDED HERE

CONTACT DETAILS and LINKS:

TO FOLLOW

ALL DOWNLOADS (ORIGINAL HIGH QUALITY PDFs):