Xinya Zhang
Animation MA
Royal College of Art
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Animation
My location: London, United Kingdom
Xinya Zhang
First Name: Xinya
Last Name: Zhang
University / College: Royal College of Art
Course / Program: Animation MA
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Animation
My Location: London, United Kingdom
Website: Click To See Website
About
Xinya Zhang is an animation filmmaker, visual artist, aspiring tattoo artist, huge Batman fan, and an octopus. Her practice explores themes of gender, violence, nature, and the human body. Alongside animation and drawing, she is drawn towards surreal imagery, strange characters, and strong visual contrasts. Her work often explores women’s experiences and the relationship between the individual and wider social structures. She is particularly interested in how animation can represent experiences that are difficult to see or talk about, using visual metaphor, transformation, and movement to communicate emotions and ideas. Currently, she is exploring experimental ways of combining 2D animation, drawing, and digital processes. Her practice is research-driven but also intuitive, allowing visual ideas to develop through experimentation, observation, and storytelling.
An Obtainable Thing is a 3-minute-40-second 2D experimental animation exploring the themes of human trafficking and gender-based violence. The film follows a woman who is abducted and taken to a remote world inhabited by fish-like humanoid creatures. Trapped in this unfamiliar environment, she is subjected to violence and gradually forced to become part of it. Through recurring imagery of fish, salmon, and dolls, the film explores the objectification, possession, and assimilation of women. Unstable linework, dramatic shifts in colour, and surreal imagery are used to create a sense of oppression and unease, inviting the audience to reflect on violence, power, and the idea of women being treated as something to be possessed.
Competitions
