Cizzoe Yi Wang

I wanted to position my artistic practice within a rigorous international award context and connect with a wider audience. Winning this award is deeply affirming on both a personal and professional level. It confirms the direction of my methodology and strengthens my motivation to continue refining my conceptual approach.

The uniqueness of my work comes from my multidisciplinary background. My training in anthropology allows me to treat artistic creation as a form of practice-based research and social experimentation. Whether through installation, sculpture, performance, or moving image, I am always engaging with others to understand our social experiences. For me, this award reflects a broader shift in today’s creative landscape, one where contemporary art increasingly moves beyond personal expression and toward social engagement. Artists are not only innovating in form, but also interrogating relationships, power structures, and cultural differences.

My work consistently begins with the question of what shapes us as human beings. I often construct micro-social worlds where participants navigate rules, negotiations, and shifting power. This anthropological approach allows me to move between the roles of observer, creator, and participant, creating a dynamic and reciprocal relationship between the artwork and its audience. In a time of global interconnectedness and information fragmentation, this inquiry into how we understand and coexist with the “other” resonates deeply.

One of the biggest challenges is accepting opposing interpretations. Because my works are participatory, they naturally generate dialogue, friction, and diverse responses. My concepts are personal and conceptual, so participants often project their own experiences onto the work, including those who disagree with my ideas. I choose to stay open to all feedback. These conversations often spark new reflections and expand my conceptual framework. Rather than weakening the work, they enrich it.

I see this recognition as a way for more institutions and galleries to discover my practice, and I am excited about future collaborations, including commissions. I have already noticed increased interest from organizations, which is very encouraging.

Winning the award has definitely brought more attention to my work. I have received messages from people who want to learn more or explore collaboration opportunities, including an invitation from Volterra Art Week 2026.

Authenticity, conceptual clarity, and interdisciplinarity are key today. All the sincerity and experimentation you put into a work become visually present. So I would say: express boldly, take risks, experiment widely, and let the audience challenge you. These interactions shape stronger works.

I believe artistic practice does not need to follow trends. It is more important to trust your voice, expand your experiences, and stay attentive to the details of daily life. Enter communities, speak with different groups of people, and new insights will naturally emerge and reveal themselves in the work.

Experiment widely and create as much as you can. Even a project made simply as a “practice exercise” can carry unexpected value if documented well. When applying, read the competition criteria carefully. Understanding the jury, audience, and thematic focus can significantly increase your chances of success.

I encourage everyone to engage more with fieldwork—that means entering communities, talking to people, and observing how individuals navigate their realities. Embodied research offers diverse perspectives and enriches artistic creation. For example, in 2021 I conducted a field study in a rural middle school in Guangxi, China, focusing on the issue of “institutional orphans.” That experience later became my documentary Them and Us, which went on to receive international recognition, including nominations from the Royal Television Society and the North East International Film Festival in the UK.

People are at the center of my work, both conceptually and practically. I would like to thank every participant who has appeared in my projects: the artists in my performance work, the audiences in my participatory installations, and the individuals who generously shared their lives in my documentaries.

A continuous practice of observing life, engaging with people, and experimenting across disciplines.

I’m currently continuing my exploration of interpersonal interaction as a game-like social performance governed by explicit and implicit rules. I am developing new installations and performances that construct micro-social systems where participants navigate and reinterpret structured environments. These interactions often produce unexpected outcomes, and I see them as opportunities to create more space for autonomy, agency, and human expression.