ABOUT

Jinya Zhao is an internationally recognised artist whose work focuses on the interaction of colour, layer and sensory connections in blown glass sculpture.

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Born and raised in China, Jinya Zhao received her BA at the China Academy of Art in 2017 and her MA and MRes from the Royal College of Art in 2019 and 2021, respectively. She works as a self-employed artist and as a researcher. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at the Royal College of Art in London.

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Jinya sees glass as an ideal medium to explore the themes of environment, emotions, and personal experiences. In her current practice and research, Jinya explores the transformative potential of glass art through a new concept of “synaesthetic touch”, aiming to bridge sensory experiences to evoke a deeper emotional and perceptual engagement with the artwork. By enhancing the visual experience of blown glass sculpture, she aims to enable audiences to experience an enhanced relationship between vision and touch, to reconnect and re-invoke multisensory perceptions. This methodology extends beyond the purely visual, aiming to establish connections with the ethereal and the unreachable.

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Her work is collected by museums and galleries such as Prague Gallery of Czech Glass, Qingdao Art Museum, Southern Illinois University, Ulster Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum.