Jian Yi is a multidisciplinary artist working in performance art, contemporary dance and new genres. Their practice is rooted in an ongoing enquiry into the ambiguities of emotional experience. Their work has been performed and exhibited internationally in major venues such as New Museum, The Kitchen NYC, Summerhall, Dance Base Edinburgh, Tramway and CCA Glasgow, among others. 

They are interested in expanding the territory of performance practice by bridging the gap between our mind and our animal selves, the connection between the inside and the outside; exploring what happens when this border between exterior and interior opens up. In their interrogation of these issues, the figure of the ‘social outsider’ takes centre stage, estranging everyday realities through intensified mental and emotional states. Through their multidisciplinary work, they seek to explore the experiential trauma of marginalised persons within our society, such as neurodiverse and queer people of colour, and how we reflect on the broader human condition. 

Featured at Tramway’s Dance International Glasgow festival – their work ‘Weathervanes’ is an exploration of internal wildernesses and rhizomatic desire. ‘Cloud States’ their current project being researched at Cove Park, builds on the enquiry into trans-states; tuning into the collective-psyche in our connection to nature. 

Following an open call for applications in Autumn 2022, Jian Yi was awarded a 4-week funded residency. Cove Park’s programme of funded residencies support research, the development of existing and new projects, collaboration, interdisciplinary practice, and the production of new work and ideas. All national and international artists, cultural practitioners, and researchers, working individually and collaboratively in all art forms, in the creative industries, and across disciplines, were eligible to apply. Cove Park’s residencies also support individuals at every stage in their careers.

Image provided by the artist.