Fine Art nominee

In the context of ancient Chinese culture, mulberry silk has a mysterious symbolic significance. The ancestors believed that silk would be conducive to the communication between human beings and heaven. Many women raise silkworms diligently, engaged in sericulture and silk reeling for thousands of years. At the end of the 20th century, due to the reform of economic ownership, the synthetic fiber impacts, the silk industry of China suffered from severe austerity, accompanied with the loss of many traditional cultures. So what does this extinction and endangerment mean? What supports the women who are still doing these crafts? In this ongoing project, I will connect silk traditions with cultural heritage, national identity, and spiritual beliefs, to explore the story behind the urgent phenomenon, and provoke a dialogue about the relevance of such connections in today's changing world.

Yiming Zhu (b.1999) is a Chinese artist who works and lives in London. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in Photography, and received the Metro Imaging prize in the School of Arts and Humanities.

Zhu's artistic practice stems from reality, probes into how life experiences and metaphors can be visualised. Through the integration of fiction and reality, she illustrates inexplicable subconsciousness and enigmatic cultural metaphors, to invite the audiences to immerse in her visual narratives. Over the past few years, she has been reflecting on her life experiences in eastern and western cultural backgrounds, to cross explorations on topics of different folk customs and traditional cultures, with direction related to interconnection between spirituality and human beings.

Her works have recently been featured at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, UK (2025), Kommunale Galerie, Germany (2025), Photometria Photo Festival, Greece(2024), PhMuseum Days, Italy (2023), Rotlicht Photo Festival, Austria (2023).

Zhu is the recipient of 30 Under 30 Women Photographers, Artpil (2025), Charta Award, Finalist (2024), FRESH EYES talent, GUP (2024), Felix Schoeller Photo Award, Emerging Photographer, Shortlist (2023).