Xiaorui Huang

Xiaorui Huang
New Hyde Park, New York, USA

STATEMENT

My art practice is an act of resistance against the cultural core values of contemporary Asian society. I create space and form to express complex thoughts and feelings. My work highlights the structural injustices affecting human rights.

A turning point in my journey was the White Paper Revolution after the 2022 Urumqi fire, where lockdown restrictions prevented firefighters from saving ten lives. I responded with a series of layered, multi-panel paintings in acrylic on newspaper, transforming grief and anger into a reflection of silent resistance and courage.

From this political awakening, my work expanded toward more personal forms of social awareness. This series grew out of my family and teaching experiences. Two of my nephews live with disabilities—one with Harlequin-type ichthyosis and the other with autism. They’re both incredibly bright and talented, but I’ve seen how judgments and everyday barriers can affect their self-perception. At the same time, teaching painting at BMCC and working with children at the Education Center has shown me the strength and creativity of students in special education programs. All together, these experiences have helped me see how heavy the invisible weight of discrimination can be, and how deeply it shapes a child’s identity.

I believe every child is born as a blank canvas and deserves to be treated without prejudice. The people they meet and the societal systems they navigate add layers of complexity to their sense of self. Some of these marks are beautiful, while others leave scars. Even when healing happens, traces of those experiences remain. That understanding set the core of this work.

This series is also influenced by Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. His idea that we perceive the world not as it truly is, but through the filters of our own conditioning, mirrors how children with disabilities experience and reshape their environments. In my paintings, I include the children’s own drawings—the kids from the education center, my nephews, and niece—layered over my brushwork. By doing this, I make them co-creators instead of just subjects, allowing their voices to become part of the artwork itself.

Whether in the studio or the classroom, I see art as a means to empower children and provide them with a space to tell their own stories. This series honors them and invites viewers to see these children with empathy, respect, and recognition of their full humanity.

BIO

Xiaorui Huang is a Chinese human rights and social commentary artist based in New York. In 2012, she moved to Ipswich, England, where she attended St. Joseph’s College and pursued her degree in Fine Art. After moving to New York, she earned her B.F.A. and later completed her M.F.A. at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.

Since spring 2019, Huang has taught painting at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY), first as a supplemental instructor and, beginning in fall 2023, as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. In early 2024, she joined the Bowery Gallery in Chelsea, New York, becoming an exhibiting artist member.

Huang’s artistic practice addresses contemporary human rights issues and social justice. She focuses on themes such as children with disabilities, Asian feminism, and political resistance, addressing equality movements within Asian society and beyond. Her work combines vigorous brushwork and mixed media
with a direct engagement with personal and collective stories, integrating children’s drawings into her compositions to question tradition and highlight marginalized voices.

Her paintings have been featured in solo exhibitions at the Walter & Joan Hobbs Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Uniondale Public Library, and the Art Gallery of Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library in New York. She has also participated in group exhibitions at venues including the Bowery Gallery, Shirley Fiterman Art Center, Powerhouse Art and Theatre 1 Breezeway Gallery in New York; the Saatchi Gallery, Holy Art Gallery in London; Las Laguna Art Gallery in Laguna Beach, California; Teravarna Art Gallery in California; Camelback Gallery’s virtual programs in Arizona.

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