Xin Liu
Xinjiang, 1991
Xin Liu is a London-based artist and engineer connecting art, science and technology through sculptures, digital experiences and films. Her research addresses space exploration and transformations of matter.
Artwork in the collection
A Book of Mine, 2025
About the artwork
A Book of Mine begins with the sequencing of the artist’s genome, initiated in December 2018. The readings are mapped onto the UCSC hs38 human X chromosome reference: covered bases appear in black and uncovered ones in grey.
Conceived as a print-on-demand publication on an almost unprintable scale, the work questions the possibilities and limits of genetics as a form of self-knowledge and ownership. Collaborator: Ross McBee.
Artistic career: Xin Liu
Career and projects
Her career includes projects associated with the MIT Media Lab and the SETI Institute. Her work has been presented at venues and events including the Shanghai Biennale, M+ Museum, MoMA PS1, MAXXI, Sundance and Ars Electronica.
She trained in engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing, earned an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (2015) and a master’s degree from the MIT Media Lab (2017), where she became the founding Arts Curator of the Space Exploration Initiative. She was a Visiting Fellow at Cornell Tech (2024–25). Under the title Cosmic Metabolism, her research examines how technological infrastructures alter the planet’s metabolism. She has been commissioned by Hyundai Artlab and BMW Culture Group, and has also exhibited at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Her honours include the K11 Artist Prize (2024), the Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia. Her work is held in the collections of M+, KADIST and Ars Electronica.