Chen Xiaoyi was born in Sichuan, China, in 1992. She currently lives and works in Chengdu, China. After graduating in Photojournalism from the University of Leeds MET, she obtained her MA in Photography from the London College of Communications in 2014 and won the LCC/Photofusion Award. In 2015, she was awarded the Three Shadows Photography Award, the most prestigious photography award in China, and in 2017, she was named one of the 30 Under 30 Asian artists by Forbes magazine.

Chen Xiaoyi's artistic practice, deeply rooted in the aesthetics of nature and Eastern philosophy, is influenced by Western abstract art. Although her work is based on photography, it transcends individual media. Focusing on the subtle perceptions of the human being, she explores the relationship between temporal succession and human perception.

Her recent solo exhibitions include: "Spoken Leaves" (Matèria, Rome, 2024), "The Epoch of Rippling Hengduan Mountains: The Nameless Lands" (Chronus Art Center, Shanghai, China, 2023), "Streit" (Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, China, 2020), "The stranger:…and while I blossomed all alone, the world slumbered" (Theatre Crochetan, Switzerland, 2018 / Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, 2018), "One Giant Leap" (Matèria, Rome, 2017), "Never!" (A Thousand Plateaus Art Space, Chengdu, 2017), "The Inadequacy of Language" (Matèria, Rome, 2016).

Special projects and recent participations include: Images Vevey Biennial (Switzerland), Biennale de la Photographie de Mulhouse (France), Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival (China), Lianzhou Foto (China), Paris Photo (France), Liste Art Fair (Switzerland), Museum Folkwang (Germany), Benaki Museum (Greece), Guangdong Times Museum (China), OCAT Shenzhen (China), Power Station of Art (China), Three Shadows Photography Art Centre (Beijing), A4 Art Museum (China).