Jinya Zhao: Holding Air, Holding Light

Jinya Zhao is a London- and China-based artist and researcher whose practice explores the fluid thresholds of perception, memory, and material presence. Working with blown glass, layered transparencies, and site-responsive installation, she investigates how vision, sensation, and time overlap. Zhao is currently completing a PhD at the Royal College of Art, and her research centers on synesthetic touch - the convergence of visual, tactile, and emotional experience. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Prague Gallery of Czech Glass, Qingdao Art Museum, and Ulster Museum. Zhao's practice re-frames material not as a medium but as a condition for perceptual and emotional resonance.