Ying Zhu is a Chinese artist residing in Glasgow. She studied printmaking at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts and later illustration at the Glasgow School of Art. She creates works across printmaking, digital painting, picture books, handmade books, and mixed media. Her work ranges from complex large-scale narratives to pieces rooted in personal experiences. She transforms ineffable emotions and psychological experiences into tangible images, focusing on often-overlooked or difficult-to-discuss topics such as mental health, compulsive behaviours, pain, aging, and sexuality. She also draws inspiration from different cultures, myths, and folk tales, retelling these stories from a contemporary perspective. As an early-career artist, she hopes to share her work with a wider audience and gradually build new connections and support. In 2026, she received the Applied Arts Young Blood Illustration Award and was selected for the RE International Original Print Exhibition in London.

See Jack work as part of our annual autumn open call, We Fear Nae Evil. featuring thirty three artists exploring the strange and magical stories of Scottish Folklore, plus our Sextet listening station is back with twenty-four new pieces for you to spend some quality time with.

Hi Ying! How did your artistic journey start?
I didn’t come from an artistic family, and no one in my family knew anything about art or painting. From a young age, the grain of wood on a table or the texture of paper would spark my imagination. I started drawing on them, and I’ve never stopped since. In junior high, I was admitted to an art high school early and began boarding school. Later, I went to Wuhan to study printmaking at the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts. For me, painting isn’t just entertainment or a pastime; it’s more like a remedy in life. When I feel lost in life or don’t know how to express myself, I can only express myself through painting. As long as I keep painting, the path seems to slowly appear. This path hasn’t been easy, but I also feel very lucky to have painted my way all the way to Glasgow. This year, I graduated from the Glasgow School of Art. Now I work two part-time jobs while continuing my artistic creation, hoping to continue painting.

How did you arrive at the theme of your work?
My work often begins with hidden, unspeakable, yet real experiences. These include trichotillomania, mental health, and the physical and sexuality of the elderly. These issues are often overlooked or considered taboo, but for those who have experienced them firsthand, they can be incredibly complex and turbulent. Perhaps because I’ve never been good at expressing myself verbally, often feeling that words fall short, I prefer to transform these feelings into images. My exhibited work, Snakes on My Head, stems from my childhood experience with trichotillomania. Due to separation anxiety and a lack of understanding from my family, I was in a state of repetitive hair-pulling for a long time. Trichotillomania is an uncontrollable compulsive behavior; sufferers often repeatedly pull out their own hair under anxiety or stress, while simultaneously enduring the shame and unease associated with changes in appearance. Before creating the work, I conducted a survey and, combining the survey results with my own experiences, created 28 images, which I then compiled into a handmade book based on copperplate engravings. I hope this book will help more people understand trichotillomania, and that after understanding it, people will show more understanding and tolerance towards those who experience this condition.

Can you walk us through your creative process?
The concept for this book actually developed quickly, perhaps because these feelings had been building up inside me for many years. The real challenge lay in the production process. At the time, I had left school and no professional printmaking studio was available. I had to prepare the materials and equipment for etching the copperplate myself under limited conditions. I mixed the acid myself and etched it in the bathroom of my rented apartment. Since I couldn’t create the traditional dust etching effect, I first completed the copperplate line etching and printing, then scanned the printed image into Procreate to add highlights and shading. The printing of the work was also thanks to a good friend. She was an art teacher at a middle school and lent me the school’s printmaking classroom. Finally, I personally completed the bookbinding and created the cover using materials such as polymer clay, wigs, and eyeballs. The whole process wasn’t ideal, and there were no perfect working conditions, but these limitations actually allowed me to find a unique way of creating this work.

What advice would you give to artists who are just starting out?
As a fledgling artist myself, I can’t really offer any mature advice. But I want to say: be bold and do it. Paint, experiment, submit your work, and don’t stop just because you get rejected. In the beginning, we don’t have much to lose. Many things only become clearer once you truly begin.

What do you do to keep motiviated and interested in your work?
For me, the most important thing is to find a theme that I truly care about and urgently want to express. Whenever such inspiration strikes, I can’t help but start creating immediately. Even if I’ve just finished get off work and am exhausted, I’ll still be thinking about it, as if I can’t breathe until I finish it. That feeling of racking my brains, of having to bring what’s in my mind to life, is what drives me to keep creating.

Will your next project be a continuation of your current style or are you experimenting with something different?
I’ve always been fascinated by mythology and folklore. As a Chinese artist living in Glasgow, I’ve gradually discovered that myths from different cultures often share similar narrative structures and character fates. My next project plans to place Chinese and Scottish myths and folklore within the same large-scale narrative, exploring their similarities and rethinking their themes of women, marriage, freedom, and identity. The work is currently in the conceptual stage and is expected to be a large-scale piece with numerous characters. I hope to have the opportunity to share it with everyone upon completion.

Find out more about Ying’s work on Instagram or her website. We Fear Nae Evil runs at Six Foot Gallery until Friday 16th October.